The Other Kimble
by BlueEyedAuthor
Summary: What if Richard Kimble had another family member? Enter Trisha Kimble, who is no stranger to tragedy and yet must face it again when her aunt is murdered and her uncle is wrongly accused of the crime. When the Marshals get involved, she is unwilling to deal with them - except for maybe the one with the ponytail. Noah/OC.
1. Chapter 1: This Can't Be

**Chapter 1- This Can't Be**

 _January 20_ _th_ _, 1992._

She ran down the slush-covered streets of Chicago, as fast as her boots could carry her.

Thirty minutes ago she had been in Evanston, in the cozy confines of a sorority house on the campus of Northwestern University.

Now, she was running towards the home of her aunt and uncle praying that what she had heard on the news wasn't true.

However, as she turned onto a sidewalk that led to the large home where she resided with them when school wasn't in session, the police cars and news vans told her that her prayers had fallen on deaf ears.

Seeing yellow caution tape, she ran towards it but was stopped by a police officer.

"You can't go in there," said the police officer.

"My aunt and uncle live there, I just heard on the news that my Aunt Helen was attacked!"

"And you are?" asked the officer.

"Trisha Kimble, I'm her niece," said Trisha. "And why is my uncle being put in the back of a police car?!"

"Miss, there's no easy to say this," said the officer. "Mrs. Kimble was dead when we got here."

All the color drained from Trisha's face. She looked at the officer, as if to say something, before promptly turning around and vomiting in the snow.

Trisha looked around the police station searching for her uncle as a young detective approached her.

"Trisha Kimble?"

"Yeah, that's me," said Trisha.

"Detective Sully, I'd like to talk to you if that's okay."

"Where's my uncle?" asked Trisha.

"He's with two other detectives right now," said Sully. "Seems whoever murdered your aunt knew the security code to get into your house. Did you give it out to anyone?"

"No, Uncle Richard told me never to give it out," said Trisha.

"No boyfriends, maybe your parents?" asked Sully.

"I'm a pre-med student at Northwestern, I don't have time for boyfriends," said Trisha. "Oh, and by the way, my parents died when I was 11. My aunt and uncle took me in and raised me when they could've just dumped me in a foster home, so if you're trying to get me to help your buddies pin this on my uncle, do your own dirty work."

She took off and ran into a restroom, unable to catch her breath.

FLASHBACK

" _Are you two really okay with me being here? I feel like I'm the third wheel," said Trisha._

 _Richard and Helen both laughed._

" _You need to be here, Trisha. You're applying to medical schools after you take the MCAT and the results come in, so the more people you know that can write letters of recommendation for you the better," said Richard._

" _Trisha, is that you?" said a voice._

 _She looked and saw Dr. Nichols walk over._

" _Charlie! Hi!" said Trisha._

" _Shouldn't you be studying?" said Dr. Nichols._

" _I'm networking tonight, got my MCAT study group tomorrow though," said Trisha._

" _That's what I wanted to hear, keep it up," said Dr. Nichols._

 _Nichols pulled Richard aside to talk about something while Helen and Trisha went to find some food._

" _I should probably take the train back to campus after this is over," said Trisha._

" _I'd be more comfortable if you didn't take the train when this is over because it's going to be really late," said Helen. "Just come home and stay the night, I can take you out for brunch then bring you back to campus."_

" _If driving me back to Evanston isn't too much trouble…"_

" _No, honey, it's not," said Helen._

END FLASHBACK

She looked in the mirror, not recognizing herself. Cheeks covered with mascara-tainted tears, thick dark brown hair wet from the snowfall, and a pair of big brown eyes that were red from crying stared back at her.

FLASHBACK

 _Trisha listened as her Uncle Richard talked to someone at Chicago Memorial Hospital via the car phone. As she did, she heard the pager Richard and Helen had given her for college beep in her purse._

" _Sorry," Trisha whispered._

" _Don't worry about it," Richard whispered._

 _His call eventually ended and he drove towards the house to drop Helen and Trisha off before heading to Chicago Memorial._

" _Can I use the car phone? One of the girls at the sorority house paged me 911," said Trisha._

 _Richard handed Trisha the phone and she called the sorority house. One of her friends, Dana, answered._

" _What's going on?" asked Trisha._

" _I just saw a nasty weather report – big snowstorm coming, and no one at the house has heard anything about canceled classes yet," said Dana. "Just get your butt to the nearest train station, Natalie and I will pick you up at Noyes."_

" _Thanks, you're a lifesaver," said Trisha._

 _She ended the call and told Richard and Helen what had happened._

" _Just pull over at a train station, I really don't care which one," said Trisha. "I don't wanna make you late for the OR, Uncle Richard."_

" _You won't," said Richard._

" _I think we're near Howard Station," said Helen._

 _The car came to a stop and Trisha exited the back seat as snow began to fall._

" _Good luck, Uncle Richard," said Trisha. "Bye, Aunt Helen."_

 _She was about to go up to Howard Station when Helen took her hand in hers._

" _Call me when you get back to the sorority house, please? I need to know that you got there safe," said Helen._

" _Don't worry, Aunt Helen. I will," said Trisha._

 _She gave her aunt a peck on the cheek and went up the stairs to catch a train back to Evanston._

END FLASHBACK

Trisha exited the restroom – just in time to see her Uncle Richard being led down a hall in handcuffs.

"What the hell?!"

Her shout drew the attention of both her uncle and the two detectives on either side of him.

"Th – they thi – think I did it for the money," said Richard.

"He didn't do this! Why don't you tubs of lard do some real police work?!" Trisha yelled.

"If you don't shut up, I'll put you in handcuffs," said Detective Kelly.

 _February, 1993._

"I need a moment alone with my niece," said Richard.

"The end phase of the trial starts in five minutes," said Walter.

He left them alone so they could talk.

"I can't believe everything got this far," said Trisha. "How can they not find a one-armed man in the city of Chicago?"

"Don't worry about me, okay? I want to know how things are going with the medical schools you applied to," said Richard.

"I have almost all of my interviews done, so hopefully I'll be getting some good news – or bad news," said Trisha.

"It'll be good news – you're smart, smarter than me," said Richard.

"Smarter than you? Nah!" said Trisha.

They shared a hug as Walter walked over.

"It's time," said Walter.

" _Richard… He's trying to kill me…"_

The 911 tape made Trisha sick to her stomach, and angry – she had lost her parents nearly a decade ago, but that hadn't been due to malice.

This was, and all they seemed to have for a motive against her uncle was a stupid life insurance policy. With that logic, Trisha was surprised she hadn't been arrested as well due to the policy also having her name on it – it had initially only had her name on it, but Helen and Richard had both agreed to have Richard put his name on it in order for Trisha to get a larger athletic scholarship due to being on the swimming team at Northwestern University.

Trisha watched as the judge spoke at the end of the final day of the trial.

"Mr. Kimble, having considered all the facts in this case and that the offense was brutal, indicative of unwarranted cruelty, it's the judgment of this court that you be remanded to Illinois State Penitentiary in Menard where you will await execution by lethal injection, the date to be set forth by the attorney general of this state," said the judge.

An audible gasp could be heard throughout the courtroom from a few of Richard's friends from Chicago Memorial. Trisha, in an effort to keep herself from showing the people in the courtroom any emotions, focused so hard on remaining composed that she accidently bit down on her tongue hard enough to draw blood.

"May God have mercy on your soul," said the judge.

Trisha swallowed the blood in her mouth as the judge swung the gavel down.


	2. Chapter 2: Dog vs Cat, Cat vs Puppy

**Chapter 2- Dog vs. Cat, Cat vs. Puppy**

A bus crash.

A train derailment.

A fugitive jumping off a dam.

Deputy U.S. Marshal Samuel Gerard didn't think he'd seen this much action in an entire month before, let alone less than a week.

Now, after a raid that had almost cost the life of his youngest deputy, they were all at the office trying to figure out where to go in their hunt of Richard Kimble.

"We should use his niece to lure him out, said Sam.

"He has family?" asked Noah.

"Yeah, it came in on the background," said Poole. "Her name's Trisha, she's 21 and goes to Northwestern."

"College, huh? I remember those days," said Cosmo.

"Shut up," said Sam.

Noah grabbed the file and read it over, then frowned.

"Her parents are deceased, can't we use one of his colleagues?" asked Noah.

"No, Trisha will do whatever it takes to keep her uncle from getting the needle," said Sam. "We're gonna use her to get him."

"How? I mean, the kid may be a smarty but if she thinks cooperating with us means attending yet another funeral she'll shut down," said Biggs.

Sam rolled his eyes, unsure as to why his "kids" seemed to care about the wellbeing of a college student that may or may not be harboring a fugitive.

"It doesn't say in the file what happened to them; only that they died in 1982," said Noah.

"I think it was a plane crash, but I could be wrong," said Cosmo.

"It was," said Sam.

The rest of the Marshals stared at him.

"All three of them were on a plane from Los Angeles, and when the plane landed at O'Hare it collided with a smaller plane that was still on the runway and caught fire," said Sam. "My guess is that they had planned to visit Richard Kimble."

"So how did it happen?" asked Cosmo.

"Talked to a buddy of mine at the NTSB last night; and he told me that the air traffic controller forgot the smaller plane was still there when the controller cleared the plane Trisha and her parents were on to land on that same runway," said Sam. "Everyone on the smaller aircraft died, only 20 people on the larger passenger plane survived."

"Said on the background she lived with Kimble and his wife prior to enrolling in Northwestern and living on campus, albeit going back during breaks," said Poole.

"Course she went back during breaks, its college," said Cosmo.

Sam rolled his eyes, and then it occurred to him.

Why go in like the big dog when sending in a puppy would do?

"Newman!"

"Boss?" said Noah.

"I want you and Cosmo to go to Evanston, find out everything about Trisha and if Kimble has been spotted in the area," said Sam. "Be charming, Newman – maybe if you flirt with her enough she'll tell you everything we need to know."

Noah and Cosmo both stared at Sam as if he'd grown a second head, but left anyway.

As the men arrived on campus, it became apparent that it was going to take a while to find one young woman in a sea of students due to the size of Northwestern.

The campus was huge, they were lost, and it seemed like no one was in a hurry to help them as they drove aimlessly around looking for where Trisha Kimble might be. After the sixth person they talked to said he had no idea who Trisha even was, Cosmo slammed the brakes and parked the car.

"This is nuts! I was never this ignorant towards law enforcement during my college days!" said Cosmo.

"He might've seen the news, but may not know her personally," said Noah. "It's later in the day; we might have better luck at the library."

"Why didn't I think of that?" said Cosmo.

The two drove towards the library for the undergraduate students and walked inside. It was quiet, save for the sounds of footsteps across the floor and fingers typing on the keyboards of computers.

They eventually found a student shelving books, and talked to her.

"I don't really know Trisha, but she comes here a lot to study and do homework," said the girl. "Usually if the girls in her sorority are partying too much, because she's on the Division 1 swimming team and she doesn't like to turn her stuff in late. The professors allow it due to student athletes having to travel for away games, but she's a stickler for turning things in on time."

"She here now?" asked Cosmo.

"No, probably back at whatever sorority house she lives at," said the girl. "I don't know which one, though. Sorry."

They also showed the girl Kimble's picture, but she said she hadn't seen him.

They drove to a different section of campus, where large houses baring Greek lettered signage caught their attention.

A male college student running around in the road immediately ran up to the Marshals' car, and vomited all over the windshield. Cosmo slammed the breaks, but the student kept vomiting.

"YUCK!" yelled Cosmo. "YUCK!"

"Damnit Ralph! Stop being an idiot!" a voice yelled.

A girl ran over as Cosmo went to turn on the wipers. However, she gestured for him not to do it. Unsure of what to expect, Cosmo parked the car and the marshals got out. They saw a tall redhead, who glared at the vomiting boy.

"Ralph did this to the detectives who were harassing my friend last year, I tried to beat him here but it looks like I'm too late," said the redhead. "I'm Dana, by the way."

"Deputy Renfroe, this is Deputy Newman, U.S. Marshals," said Cosmo.

Dana's eyes narrowed.

"I know why you two are here, be nice," said Dana.

"You know Trisha then," said Noah.

"Yeah, since freshman year," said Dana. "The two detectives that came by last year actually had her so upset she got sick later that week, so be nice."

Dana led the two marshals across the street to one of the sorority houses.

"Why the hell did he do that to the car?" said Cosmo.

"He's been trying to get in her pants – it's not working," said Dana.

She led them to a couch and told them to sit. As the marshals waited for Dana to get Trisha, it was obvious from the looks they were getting from the other girls in the house that they weren't welcome.

"Why won't they just leave me alone?"

Trisha slammed her textbook shut in frustration as she struggled to keep her emotions in check.

She couldn't break in front of the marshals – she refused to let them see her as someone they could crack open like an egg.

"One of them is really cute," said Dana. "Change your clothes."

"Why?"

"You're wearing a baggy sweatshirt, that's why," said Dana.

She grabbed a dark green halter top out of the closet they shared and tossed it to Trisha.

"And this is better?" said Trisha.

"Yeah, distract him with your cleavage!" said Dana.

Trisha tried not to laugh as she put on the top. She doubted this would work.

The marshals heard giggling, and footsteps. They wondered what was taking the girls so long.

Trisha peered around and caught site of the two marshals sitting on the couch.

Sure enough, one of them appeared to only be a few years older than she was.

"Too easy," Dana whispered. "I'll go on ahead."

Trisha heard Dana go down the stairs and tell the marshals that Trisha was right behind her, that she had wanted to change her clothes. The brunette waited a few seconds, then followed.

"I'm Deputy Renfroe this is Deputy Newman, U.S. Marshals," said Cosmo.

Trisha looked at Noah for a moment.

"Pity – you're cute," said Trisha.

"Who, me?" said Cosmo.

"You wish, Deputy Renfroe," said Trisha.

Dana and a few other girls snickered. Noah blushed, causing Cosmo to roll his eyes.

"Sorry about the wait, I was in my PJs when you two showed up," said Trisha. "I didn't want to talk to the two of you dressed like that. I assume you're here about my uncle so let's cut to the chase. What do you want?"

"We'd like to know if you've seen him since he escaped the prison transfer," said Noah.

"I haven't, and he didn't kill my aunt," said Trisha. "He's innocent."

Cosmo opened his mouth to say something, but Trisha interrupted.

"Save it, Deputy," said Trisha. "I know what you're gonna say – you're gonna ask me to cooperate, to help you find him and turn him in. I had to deal with this song and dance last year, and I'm not gonna pull a Judas on my only living relative."

"We're gonna need some copies of your class schedule in case we need to talk to you during the day," said Noah.

"I'm alright with that, but there's no way I'm riding in the vomit-mobile to the library to make copies of it for you and the rest of your team," said Trisha.

"We need to go with you," said Cosmo.

"I'm more than willing to do that but my car only seats two people including me, so I can only take one of you," said Trisha. "With all due respect, Deputy Renfroe, I can't stand the smell of your cologne. Is it alright if Deputy Newman comes with me?"

Cosmo nodded, but wasn't nuts about it.

It was a few minutes before Trisha had her keys and her coat, but she was ready quickly.

Noah followed Trisha outside to a black sports car.

"Mazda MX-5," said Trisha.

Noah noticed the car had a hard top, which wasn't standard.

"It's not supposed to have a hard top, how'd you get it like that?"

"It was a graduation gift for me back in high school and my uncle was concerned about my safety and the Illinois weather, so he paid extra money for that," said Trisha. "It retracts, but with the weather being this yucky I'm not putting it down right now."

They got in. He noticed two back seats, but with no room for an adult. Cosmo would not have fit, and knowing him he probably would've complained.

"Luckily for us the library is open pretty late," said Trisha as she started the car.

They took off, with Trisha trying to hide her emotions from the marshal.

"Are you okay?" asked Noah.

"Why do you care?"

"I know what it's like not to have a family," said Noah.

Trisha glanced at him for a moment, as if she wanted to say something – but the look on her face was one that told Noah she was afraid to let her guard down.

"Ever been to three funerals before you turned 21?" said Trisha.

"Can't say I have," said Noah.

"I'll be going to a fourth after this all ends," said Trisha. "Freakin' judge sentenced him to death, so after this is over…"

Her voice trailed off as she parked the car.

"We're here. I'll be right back. I'll keep the car running for you, this cold weather is nasty," said Trisha.

She ran out before Noah could say anything. He could tell that her reluctance was more out of a fear of losing yet another person she cared about, and not just being the way Nichols had been – according to Sam, Nichols and the rest of Kimble's former colleagues had all shut the marshals down earlier that day.

Trisha came back ten minutes later.

"I made ten copies, will that be enough?"

"Yeah, thank you," said Noah.

Trisha started the car and the pair set off for the sorority house.

"Is your boss gonna prevent me from leaving the state?" asked Trisha. "I'm only asking because I got a couple more medical schools I need to interview with and it just occurred to me that with everything going on, some of the people on your team might not want to allow it."

"It shouldn't be an issue, but I don't know," said Noah.

Trisha sighed. To Noah, it appeared the young woman had the weight of the entire world on her shoulders and if he didn't change the subject, it was going to be a long car ride back to the sorority house.

"Did you mean what you said earlier?" asked Noah.

"I said a lot of things earlier," said Trisha.

"About it being a pity I was cute," said Noah.

Trisha giggled and the marshal wondered just how long it'd been since she'd laughed like that.

"Deputy, it really is a pity because the timing sucks!" said Trisha.

"Call me Noah," said Noah.

"Okay, Noah," said Trisha.

She didn't say anything else, not even as they arrived back at the house and she parked the car. It wasn't until they exited the car that she spoke again.

"He got called into the OR for an emergency. I tried to tell the detectives and they didn't believe me," said Trisha. "Said that because I was family I'd say anything, but I was in the car when he got the call from the hospital to go and scrub in."

Noah believed her, but he couldn't help but wonder why a pair of detectives hadn't. He would have to tell Sam about this.

As they walked towards the sorority house, Trisha almost slipped on some ice but Noah caught her before she fell.

"Thanks," said Trisha.

Blushing, she unlocked the door and they went inside to discover several sorority girls doing tequila shots, running around and tossing a pair of pants to each other.

"Damnit!" Cosmo yelled. "Give me back my credentials! Give me back my pants!"

Noah stared at Trisha, whose face appeared surprised.

"Did you know about this?" asked Noah.

"No, I did not. I'm the Gamma Phi Beta president; if I tell them to stop they have to listen to me," said Trisha.

"Tell them to stop, then," said Noah.

Trisha ran upstairs then came back down with an air horn. Holding it above her head, she pressed the button and an irritating noise filled the room, causing everyone to stop what they were doing and cover their ears. Satisfied, Trisha set the air horn down on a nearby table. Noah then noticed one of the other girls stuff something down Trisha's shirt.

"Eeek! What was that?!" Trisha yelled.

"I think those were my credentials," said Cosmo. "Damnit."

"Give Deputy Renfroe back his pants, now," said Trisha.

She ran into a bathroom and reappeared a few minutes later with Cosmo's credentials in her hand. As she gave them back to him, she noticed he had lipstick marks all over him as well as a couple hickeys. Snickering, she went back over to Noah.

"You have more people in your corner than you think," said Noah.

"I didn't ask for pants-less insanity. Thank you for listening to me earlier," said Trisha. "What happens now?"

"I'll have to tell my boss what you told me. What happens after, I'm not sure," said Noah.

"It's okay Noah," said Trisha. "I'm like a cat; I always land on my feet."

"Newman! Let's get out of here!" said Cosmo.

The marshals left.


	3. Chapter 3: Shenanigans

**A/N: Finally figured out how to get line breaks to work, so I'll have to edit the last 2 chapters for that. Also, sorry that this update has been late, real life really got in the way. I've been trying to find work post-college, and it's been a pain. But writing, luckily, keeps me sane.**

 **Chapter 3- Shenanigans**

"Why the hell was she calling you by your first name?" said Cosmo. "She's playing you, Noah!"

"She was truthful, and I got actual information," said Noah. "All you got is lipstick on your face."

"I think he likes you," said Dana.

"Whatever, just give me that bottle will ya?" said Trisha. "This whole mess has me needing a drink."

Trisha took the bottle and drank until the tequila burned her throat.

"That's better. Now I'm going to bed. Ya'll better not be stealing anymore pants now," said Trisha.

The girls laughed as Trisha went upstairs and fell asleep in her clothes, the exhaustion and grief wearing her out.

The next day had Trisha awake to a hangover.

"Never drinking tequila again," Trisha muttered.

"Yeah, good idea," said Dana.

"Shut up," said Trisha.

"We have swim practice," said Dana. "C'mon."`

"What the hell happened here?"

"Crazy people, Sam," said Noah. "Lots of crazy people."

"I want to question that girl, put phone taps on the sorority house, set up a camp by the sorority house, and wire her car. You said she had – "

"She's taking off!" Noah yelled.

"What?!"

"Yeah, there they go!" said Noah.

"Move over, kid," said Sam. "I'm driving."

Trisha glanced outside as Dana drove the car. It was still early morning, and many people had yet to even wake up.

"Dude, I think we're being followed," said Dana.

"Probably some of the other girls at the house," said Trisha.

Gamma Phi Beta was the only sorority on campus whose membership was comprised entirely of female student athletes. It was the only reason Trisha had even rushed with Dana back during their freshman year, as she had realized the girls would be understanding when it came to her crazy schedule.

They also believed Richard was innocent, even though they had never declared as such – why else would several of them have resorted to stealing that poor deputy's pants?

It was that kind of devotion she would never forget.

"No, sweets – the other two on the team left already, it's an unmarked cruiser," said Dana. "Probably those marshals from last night."

"You're kidding," said Trisha.

Dana peeked in the rearview mirror.

"Nope, I'm not. The cutie from last night and some old dude. The old dude is driving, this ought to be fun."

"Dana, no," said Trisha. "You're not doing this in my car."

"He can learn how a Texan gets shit done around here," said Dana. "Tighten your seatbelt."

Sam was about to make a turn when the black car in front of him suddenly stopped short.

"What the hell?!" the senior deputy shouted.

The black car then sped off.

"I think we got made, Sam," said Noah.

"Really," Sam said sarcastically.

They resumed following the black Mazda, when it stopped short again and the driver blared the horn. Noah watched as Trisha poked her head out the passenger side window, a sheepish expression on her face.

Dana put the car back in gear and headed for the gymnasium.

"Suck off, assholes!" Dana yelled.

"Are you crazy?!" Trisha yelled.

"I'm adopted, how the hell am I supposed to know if I was predisposed to crazy?!"

"You're terrible," said Trisha.

"Ah, whatever. You still love me," said Dana.

The girls laughed until they arrived at the gym. Their coach, Amanda Skeeter, was waiting for them.

"Sorry, we had to lose a couple idiots," said Dana. "They were tailgating us."

"Fine by me, just get changed and do some warm-up laps," said Skeeter.

Trisha and Dana wasted no time changing into their swimsuits. By the time they left the changing rooms to join their fellow teammates by the pool, however, Coach Skeeter appeared to be in a heated argument with someone.

"That's the guy from earlier," Dana whispered.

"Shut up, let's just do some laps and pretend he's not there," said Trisha.

Since they were also wearing bathing caps and swim goggles, it was easy to slip into the pool and join the rest of the team while remaining unnoticed by the marshals.

However, things didn't remain quiet for long. Trisha noticed Noah approaching the lane where she was swimming, so she stopped in the shallow end.

"Who is that?" Trisha asked.

"Deputy Samuel Gerard, my boss," said Noah.

"Yuck," said Trisha.

"You don't have a choice, he has questions," said Noah.

"He shouldn't have pissed off Coach Skeeter then, I've never seen her this mad," said Trisha. "What the hell are they arguing about?"

"He told her he wanted you yanked off the team due to a couple away games being out of state and she practically exploded in his face," said Noah.

"Seriously? He actually thinks me leaving the state of Illinois is an issue? What the hell is his problem?!" Trisha yelled.

A splash at the far end of the pool soon caught the entire team's attention, and eventually all the students began roaring with laughter.

"Did that… really… just… happen?" said Dana between fits of laughter.

"What happened?" said Trisha.

"Skeeter just pushed him into the pool," said Dana.

"Couldn't have happened to a nicer guy," Trisha spat.

Noah watched as Sam got out of the pool, an angry look on the older marshal's face as he searched to make sure his credentials and gun weren't at the bottom of the pool.

They weren't – however, the same couldn't be said for his handcuffs. They had fallen off his jacket and were now at the bottom of the swimming pool.

"One of you go get my cuffs – now!"

"Why, so you can arrest our coach?" one of the girls sneered.

"She assaulted me!" Sam yelled.

"I don't care!" the girl yelled.

Sam glared at her.

"Aww, the widdle baby got wet and wants to go on a power trip," another girl sniggered.

"BABY! BABY!"

The chant echoed throughout the entire swimming complex as Dana found a cigar floating on top of the water.

"Finders keepers," Dana whispered.

"No, Dana," said Trisha.

"Hey, all I gotta do is blow-dry it and it'll be good as new."

"Yeah, and I'll be the one in trouble for it so give it up," said Trisha.

"Yeah, you're right – he's an asshole," said Dana.

She handed the cigar to Trisha, who handed it to Noah.

"What Dana said about blow-drying them will probably work, her brothers taught her that trick," said Trisha.

"I'll let Sam know, thanks," said Noah.

He brought the cigar back over to Sam, who had at that point decided not to arrest Skeeter for the stunt she had pulled. The older deputy was more embarrassed than anything, and the chants of "BABY!" weren't helping the situation.

Besides, the marshals had bigger fish to fry as it had occurred to Sam that Richard Kimble had probably gone to Trisha's swim meets, and had probably seen the entire swim team in action. Had the surgeon surviving the fall not been a matter of sheer luck after all?

"Go ask her which of the girls on the team are the divers," said Sam.

Noah nodded.

Trisha had gotten out of the pool and was about to head to the smaller dive pool when she noticed Noah walking back over. She quickened her pace towards the smaller pool, not wanting to be bothered. She felt more than a little self-conscious in her swimsuit due to a scar she had on her left leg that, while it had gotten smaller as she had grown up, was still noticeable if she didn't have a tan, like during the winter months.

Unfortunately, despite the fact that it was almost March, Illinois was known for having notoriously long winters.

"Trisha?"

Noah's voice was enough to bring the young woman to a standstill.

"What is it?" asked Trisha.

"A couple things. First of all, is your coach always that nasty?"

"No, but a few of the girls came down with mono and the fact someone came here and tried to demand that she relinquish yet another girl – and one who isn't sick or injured – just made her even more mad," said Trisha. "That, and Detective Kelly tried to harass me during practice last year."

"What do you mean by 'tried'?"

"She threatened to call the campus police on his ass if she ever saw him on campus again," said Trisha.

Noah laughed. He stopped, however, when he noticed Trisha wasn't laughing with him. She just stood there, waiting for the other shoe to drop.

"Sam wants to know which of your fellow teammates are the divers," said Noah.

"I'm one of them, if that helps. Does your boss need me to show off? Skeeter says I'm the best one on the team," said Trisha. "There's three other girls who dive, two of them are currently down with the kissing disease, so I got a feeling Skeeter will soon ban us all from having boyfriends."

Ten minutes later, Sam and Noah watched as Trisha and one of the other girls on the team, Bonnie, executed some dives off the one and three meter diving boards.

"Mono?" Mono?!" Sam hissed. "I got dunked over a bunch of kissing jerks?!"

"Yeah, I don't think Trisha saw that one coming," Noah whispered. "I went over her schedule, she's a double major and the athletics? I'm surprised she gets any sleep!"

"Tail her everywhere, until we know where Kimble intends to go," said Sam. "In the meantime, we're gonna get a phone tap on the sorority house and set up camp"

"That might not work, Sam," said Noah. "There's 30 girls who live in that house, I'm willing to bet a few of them have parents who will challenge a phone tap to weed out a relative of one inhabitant."

"You let me worry about nosy parents, kid," said Sam. "Just follow the girl. She may not know where Kimble is right now but she'll lead us to him whether she wants to or not."

As Trisha surfaced from yet another dive, a hooting noise permeated the area.

Looking up, she noticed it was none other than Ralph.

Rolling her eyes, she climbed out of the pool.

"What the hell do you want?"

"To see you," said Ralph.

"Well, I don't wanna see you so get lost," said Trisha.

"Why?"

"I don't wanna sleep with you, that's why!" Trisha yelled.

Her annoyed voice caught Dana's attention, and the redhead sprang out of the larger pool and was immediately at her best friend's side.

"Beat it or I'll beat you!" Dana yelled, her hands balling into fists.

"Nice try, baby. I wrestle, you'd lose," said Ralph.

"Stop trying to make me another notch on your belt, I'm not interested," said Trisha.

"Least I'm no liar."

"What the hell are you talking about?" said Trisha.

"The lawman over there? He's only using you to put your uncle in jail. That's the notch on _his_ belt," said Ralph.

Smirking, the wrestler left.

Unfortunately, the damage was done. Trisha felt a horrible uneasiness at having talked to Noah. Just how badly had she betrayed the only living family member she had left?

Unsure of what to do and knowing Skeeter wouldn't let the deputies follow; she immediately took off for the locker room.

After she looked around and realized she was alone, she allowed what Ralph said to sink in and punched one of the lockers.


	4. Sparks?

**Chapter 4- Sparks?**

If the last thirteen months had taught her anything, it was that emotions and familial bonds were weapons that could be used against her.

Trisha Kimble wasn't certain how much more ammunition she should provide anyone.

Her hand throbbing, she emerged from the locker room and dove into the lap pool to retrieve the handcuffs.

It was later that day when the phone in the sorority house rang. One of the girls, a sophomore, ran to pick it up.

"Trisha! It's for you!"

"Who is it?" asked Trisha.

"Hopkins!"

Trisha leaped from the couch and ran to the phone. A couple of the girls watched as Trisha spoke to the person on the other end of the line.

"I'll be there in three days, I am looking forward to it," said Trisha.

The call ended and Trisha turned to look at the girls, a grin on her face. It was at that moment that Dana chose to walk in.

"What'd I miss?"

"John Hopkins School of Medicine called, they want to interview me!" said Trisha.

"Awesome!" said Dana.

A few of the other girls hollered with excitement.

"Shit, you gotta book a flight," said Dana. "Want me to come with?"

A couple of the other girls volunteered to fly down with Trisha, but she immediately turned down their offers.

"I appreciate it but you guys have no idea how expensive airfare is," said Trisha.

"And what about those pain in the ass marshals?" said another girl.

"Ewww, I forgot about them," said Dana. "Ewwww."

"Crap. I might not even be able to go," said Trisha.

"Maybe the cute one will help you out," said Dana. "I think he likes you, Trisha."

The other girls snickered.

Trisha sat in the car of the L train, nervous as the means of transport rolled closer to Chicago. Trains didn't bother her. Rather, what was bothering her was tonight's current destination.

"Least you got back-up," said Dana.

"I guess," said Trisha. "Deputy Gerard doesn't seem like a nice person, though. He doesn't give two shits about anyone but himself and being a fuckin' cowboy."

"Still don't like cowboys?"

"I like cowgirls enough," said Trisha.

"Good, 'cuz I am one," said Dana. "It's my brother's loss you know – looking down on you 'cuz you have money. I know you don't have it easy and he's too thick to see it."

"Is that why you literally kicked him in the ass last summer?"

"Yep," said Dana. "If anyone was bein' a snob it was him."

The two friends laughed as the train eventually reached a station close to the U.S. Marshals' office.

"I might need a drink when this is over," said Trisha.

"To celebrate or drown our sorrows?"

"Depends on what the marshals say," said Trisha.

Cosmo and Biggs were looking through some files when they heard the familiar ding of the elevator. They looked up and watched as two women in their early twenties exited the elevator.

"Cripes, that's Trisha!" Cosmo whispered.

"Who's that with her?" asked Biggs.

"Dana Wesson, she's Trisha's best friend I think," said Cosmo.

"You think?"

"She doesn't seem to like anyone with a badge, except for the kid," said Cosmo.

The two marshals watched as both girls walked over to them. They appeared to be on a mission of sorts.

Whatever it was, Cosmo and Biggs were about to find out – both college students were standing in front of their desks.

"I need to go to Baltimore later this week for an interview at John Hopkins, is that going to be a problem?" said Trisha.

"You're gonna have to talk to Gerard about that," said Cosmo.

Trisha turned to Dana and muttered something about perhaps just turning the interview down, which Dana tried to talk her out of. Noah, who was drinking coffee nearby, overheard them talking and walked over.

"I'll show you guys where his office is, don't worry," said Noah.

"That's not what I'm worried about!" said Trisha. "The man didn't exactly strike me as flexible this morning!"

"Kid, I think your girlfriend's right," said Cosmo.

"She's not my girlfriend!"

"Whatever you say, kid."

Noah led the pair of friends to Sam's office.

"I know you're trying to helpful, but I don't think he's gonna let me go," Trisha whispered.

"What I don't understand, is why you didn't bring up your athletics back when you brought this stuff up," said Noah.

"My Division I days are almost over, the swim and dive season concludes in a few weeks and it's my senior year so that's that. Medical school, on the other hand, this is what I've been working towards almost my entire life," said Trisha. "I've wanted to become a doctor since I was 13, and if I can't go to an interview at a medical school that's one less option I have after I graduate in June."

"I thought colleges had their graduation ceremonies in May."

"Northwestern runs on quarters instead of semesters, so our graduation is later," said Dana.

"Which reminds me, I'll have to give you guys a new schedule when spring quarter starts," said Trisha. "I – I swear I'm not trying to be difficult."

Noah couldn't help but notice how nervous she was. He wanted to tell her it would be okay but like the elusive doctor they were trying to catch, Trisha was smart – smart enough to know how unpredictable Sam could be.

After all, the man had almost blown off Noah's right ear shooting another fugitive from the very same bus crash that Dr. Kimble had escaped from.

"You want me to go in with you?" asked Noah.

"You don't have to do that," said Trisha.

"I want to."

"Okay," said Trisha.

"Don't worry girlie," said Dana. "If the cowboy says no, I'll just challenge him to a duel."

Noah snickered. He couldn't help it. What kind of duel could a co-ed possibly try to wage against his boss?

Unsure what to think of the evil glint shining in Dana's brown eyes, he knocked on the door to Sam's office.

"Come in," said Sam.

The three of them filed in, Noah unsure if he should let Dana in but the look on her face clearly stated she wasn't about to let Trisha deal with Sam alone.

"What the hell is this?!" said Sam.

"I – I got a call from John Hopkins School of Medicine earlier today, and they would like me to go down there for an interview," said Trisha. "If I am unable to go, there's a very good chance I will get rejected off the bat and I'd like a fair shot at getting in."

"Where's the campus located?" asked Sam.

"Baltimore, Maryland," said Trisha.

Sam was about to say no when he noticed the look Noah was giving him.

"What?!"

"Sam, if I may," said Noah. "If you don't okay this, we won't have a good chance of getting Kimble anymore."

"How the hell not?!"

"Like it or not she's our best shot at getting him, you said as much at the pool this morning," said Noah. "If we let her go she might cooperate with us in the future."

"She'll try to meet with him in Baltimore!"

"No, I won't," said Trisha.

"I don't believe you!"

"I won't have enough time," said Trisha.

"Prove it," said Sam.

"The interview is on Saturday," said Trisha. "My last class gets out Friday morning at 10:50 A.M. From there I plan to fly out of Chicago during the afternoon or evening depending on what's available for flights, check into a hotel, sleep. Saturday morning I'll have to get to the campus. I was told over the phone that I'll be eating breakfast with a couple med students, touring the campus, having my interview then touring the hospital. I'm planning to fly back Sunday morning if possible because I don't want to miss class."

"What about between all of that?" said Sam.

"I'm a double major in Chemistry and Mathematics, so I'll be doing homework at the hotel between all of that," said Trisha.

"Don't forget to eat and sleep!" Dana whispered.

"Oh – I forget to do that sometimes," said Trisha sheepishly.

Dana shook her head.

"Alright, you can go – but, I'm sending one of the marshals with you," said Sam.

"Thank you," said Trisha.

She could care less if he thought she needed a babysitter – it was better than being unable to go at all.

"I'd like to volunteer to escort Trisha to Baltimore," said Noah.

Dana was about to smirk when Trisha stepped on her foot. Luckily, the two girls had a desk between them and Sam's line of sight.

"Good, you just saved me the trouble of asking Cosmo to do it," said Sam.


	5. Chapter 5: Baltimore, Part I

**A/N: So, I wanted to fit all the Baltimore stuff into one chapter. It took too long. Here's part one, I hope to have some reviews after I get off work tonight.**

 **Chapter 5- Baltimore, Part I**

Noah left Sam's office with Trisha and Dana.

"What were you planning?" asked Noah.

"I wasn't planning anything," said Trisha.

"I was talking to Dana."

"My dad's a Texas Ranger, he taught me how to shoot and I can out-shoot all four of my brothers and him," said Dana. "So, it's a safe bet that if I had challenged your boss to a target shooting contest, I'd have won."

Cosmo, who had overheard Dana, rolled his eyes.

"Bullshit, you can't shoot you're a girl," said Cosmo.

Dana noticed Deputy Poole shoot such a nasty look at Cosmo that if looks could've killed, Cosmo would've fallen to the floor, dead. Dana couldn't help it – she burst into laughter, maniacal laughter, and Trisha immediately grabbed her best friend by the arm and dragged her to the elevator.

"I'd say the only one able to control that girl is the one we're tailing," said Biggs. "Kid, I'd be careful if I were you if that girl is able to shoot as well as she claims."

"I'm not worried, she seems to knock off the shenanigans if Trisha tells her stop," said Noah.

"She _seems_ to?" said Poole.

"She's the one who got the others to steal my pants!" Cosmo yelled. "Trisha and the kid went to print off her class schedule, next thing I know I'm bein' hog-tied and they took my credentials and my pants!"

"Cosmo, I thought you enjoyed that," said Poole.

The marshals had a laugh at his expense until Sam exited his office, and they then decided to be quiet before he yelled at them.

* * *

Back at the sorority house, Trisha and Dana talked in the kitchen of the sorority house.

"I'm gonna have to call O'Hare, and since you're VP I'll need you to cover for me while I'm gone," said Trisha.

"Any instructions?" asked Dana, a mischievous grin on her face.

"Don't slack off on your research project, Pele."

Dana stuck her tongue out at Trisha, the former having taken two quarters of independent research in the Earth Sciences department in order to do a research project on volcanoes. Dana wanted to be a volcanologist, which was a career that was as exciting as it was dangerous.

"Other than that?" asked Dana.

"Keep any mail that comes for me, and let me know if anyone calls," said Trisha.

"Who would call you? I thought Hopkins was the last school."

"Uncle Richard," Trisha whispered.

"Oh," said Dana. "That. Don't worry, if I get any calls I'll tell you about them when you get back. Why don't you go call O'Hare, and I'll call a meeting with the other girls on the E-board."

Dana gathered the girls who held the various other Executive Board titles in Gamma Phi Beta while Trisha called O'Hare to schedule a flight to Baltimore.

* * *

Friday came before Trisha was prepared for the day to arrive. She was up early for both swim practice and classes, which did nothing to prepare her for the jitters coursing through her stomach.

Trisha hated flying. Before the plane crash, she had enjoyed flying because it meant going someplace great. Now, it was simply one to two hours of feeling terrified that something would go wrong. For some people, that time would be longer but if being afraid to fly was an issue for someone who had to book a flight to interview at various medical schools, flying took half the time it normally would have than if she was still living in California.

The morning passed far too fast for Trisha and soon she and Dana were loading her suitcase into her car and driving to Noyce Station. It was the closest station to Northwestern University, which caused Trisha to remember the night Helen died.

"I would've gone home that night if you hadn't called, I should've gone home that night anyway," said Trisha.

"Then you'd be dead too," said Dana.

"Least Uncle Richard would be a free man, he had no motive to hurt me," said Trisha.

"You should tell Noah about that," said Dana.

* * *

As Trisha rode on the L train, the snow began to come down – hard.

Her flight would probably be delayed, at best. Cancelled at worst, but she had never had a flight cancelled due to weather yet.

She got to Balpo Station, which sat in the middle of three different lines – the purple, red, and blue lines – and got off the train she had been on in order to transfer to the blue line so she could get to O'Hare Airport. She was also meeting up with Noah here, and wanted to find him before the next train arrived.

However, finding him apparently wasn't as easy as she thought it would be. Neither the handsome man nor his distinctive ponytail were anywhere to be seen; and a train whizzed by as if mocking her inability to find Noah so they could get to the airport.

"Damnit!"

"Trisha, I'm here!"

She turned around and saw him.

"Sorry, I've been here eight months and I still keep getting lost," said Noah.

"Only eight months? I didn't think you were a rookie," said Trisha.

"Surprise," said Noah.

Another train showed up and stopped. The two of them got on and didn't get off until the train reached the station next to O'Hare. As they went inside the airport, they noticed the snow was coming down even harder.

"Eeeek!" said Trisha.

"Don't you like snow?" said Noah.

"Not when I'm about to fly, I don't!"

They meandered their way through the busy airport and found the terminal where their flight was. Sure enough, while they were allowed to board the plane there was a delay because their plane, along with several others, had to be de-iced before being allowed to take off.

The flight attendants walked up and down the aisle of the plane, passing bottled water to passengers during the delay that lasted an hour.

However, that hour was over before Trisha had a chance to prepare herself and the plane was soon rolling down the runway.

"Crap!" Trisha muttered.

Luckily, the takeoff went smoothly and Trisha found herself able to calm down a little once the plane steadied itself.

"You okay?" asked Noah.

"Not really," said Trisha.

Noah reached over and took her hand in his.

"You don't have to go through this alone, ok?"

"Thank you, Noah," Trisha whispered.

They held hands for the rest of the flight, until the plane landed at BWI Airport. Trisha was more than relieved to be back on solid ground, and went with Noah so they could search for their luggage. They soon found both their respective suitcases and made their way towards a light rail station near the airport.

"Can I ask you something?" said Trisha.

"Okay."

"Why did Sam say you saved him the trouble of asking Cosmo to go with me?"

"Cosmo is good at what he does, but he complains – a lot," said Noah.

Trisha laughed. It was a beautiful laugh, one that sounded like music.

"He doesn't like flying either, always worries he'll lose his luggage," said Noah.

"What's his deal? I have an actual reason not to like it," said Trisha.

Noah smiled as the two of them boarded a train.

"Sam wasn't too happy when I told him about the hotel you picked," said Noah.

"Why?"

"It's in the Inner Harbor, it's expensive, and guess who has to pay for it?"

"I figured he'd have to," said Trisha. "I tried to get a cheaper one, but they were all either full or in sketchy neighborhoods. Would he rather have had to explain to _his_ boss why we were butchered and our organs sold to the highest bidders?"

"That's disgusting," said Noah.

Trisha giggled, unable to resist the urge to laugh at the look on Noah's face.

After transferring to the Baltimore Metro, the pair eventually arrived at the hotel and made their way to their respective rooms, Noah's being across from Trisha's.

 **2 Hours Later**

Trisha had hung up her clothes and was about to shower when she heard someone knocking on her door. Looking through the peephole, she saw that it was Noah and let him in. When he saw she was wearing nothing but a bathrobe, his face turned the color of raspberries.

"What's got you tongue-tied, deputy?" asked Trisha, knowing full well what the answer was.

"Why aren't you wearing clothes?!"

"I was about to take a shower," said Trisha. "I'd rather not go to my interview tomorrow smelling like an airport."

Noah nodded, not really able to say much.

"I ruined your plan to question me about my Uncle Richard's whereabouts, didn't I?"

"Yeah…" said Noah.

"Sorry," said Trisha. "I haven't heard from him at all, much less seen him. I've had too much schoolwork to get into the city lately."

"I believe that."

"Now I'm really glad you're here and not Cosmo, we both know he'd have bent me over on the couch by now after seeing me like this," said Trisha.

"He better not!" said Noah.

Was it her imagination, or had her joke about Cosmo's womanizing antics in pertinence to her current state of dress made Noah mad? She hoped not, that was the last thing she wanted.

"Relax, he's not my type," said Trisha. "I really do need to take a shower though."

Trisha went into the bathroom. When Noah heard the water running, he went through her suitcase but it was mostly empty save for her plane ticket back to Chicago. Seeing a manila folder on the table next to the bed, he flipped through it but realized there was nothing pertinent to the case – the entire folder was information Trisha had written about stuff that might be brought up during her interview tomorrow.

Noah hastily put the folder back on the table and waited for Trisha to emerge from the bathroom. She eventually did, wearing pajamas this time.

"I'm just glad this is the last interview I have to do, because I'm starting to get a little nervous," said Trisha.

"I think they'd be fools to reject you," said Noah. "Why didn't you apply anywhere close to Chicago?"

"I wanted to get out of my uncle's shadow, it was a decision he and I made before…" her voice trailed off as she struggled to hold tears back, the memory of her aunt Helen's death fresh in her mind.

"I'm sorry, that wasn't my intention," said Noah.

"It's okay," said Trisha. "He and I decided it was better if I was somewhere where his friends couldn't constantly compare me to him when I began my clinical rotations during my third year."

"That doesn't actually happen, does it? People in medical school being compared to their high-profile MD relatives?" asked Noah.

"Yes, it does – worse, the pressure to measure up to said relatives can get really bad which was why my uncle and I decided to do stuff this way," said Trisha.

"Alright," said Noah.

"I should probably go to bed, I got a big day tomorrow," said Trisha.

"Okay," said Noah.

He left and went back to his own room across the hall. Trisha fell asleep an hour later.

* * *

Trisha was up early the next morning, and got dressed in the clothes she had picked out for her interview at Hopkins. She had decided not to wear much jewelry except for a wristwatch and a locket that had been a gift from her aunt Helen. She exited her hotel room and knocked on the door to Noah's hotel room, knowing that if she took off without him his boss might sic Baltimore PD on her.

"I'm awake!" Noah yelled.

"Almost ready? I don't wanna be late!"

"Yeah… almost," said Noah.

Trisha heard a yawn from inside the room and groaned. The door opened a few minutes later.

"Relax, we won't be late," said Noah.

"Sorry, I guess I'm more nervous than I thought I was," said Trisha. "There's a breakfast spot not too far from the hotel, Rosie's I think it's called. Wanna go grab some food?"

"Why not get food here?"

"I thought it'd be fun to eat somewhere the locals do, why not?" said Trisha.

Noah grinned and followed her. They made their way out of the hotel and to Rosie's, which appeared to be a small coffee shop that served breakfast sandwiches, bagels, and other items such as cookies. The smell of coffee and bacon wafted through the air as the two of them waited in line. When it was their turn to order, Noah let Trisha go first.

"I'll have a bacon, egg, and cheese sandwich and a large Red Eye with two extra shots of espresso please," said Trisha.

"What the hell is a Red Eye?!" said Noah.

"Its regular coffee with a shot of espresso, two shots of espresso makes a Black Eye and in your girlfriend's case, three shots is a Dead Eye," said the barista.

"She's not my girlfriend."

"Ignore him, he's shy," said Trisha. "I'll also have a chocolate chip cookie please."

An old man behind Noah laughed.

"She's got spunk, I'll give her that!" said the man. "Reminds me of my wife!"

Noah laughed and ordered the same sandwich Trisha did, but ordered hot chocolate instead of coffee – he wanted no part of whatever that concoction was that she had ordered.

"I'm sorry," Trisha whispered. "Telling the truth would've taken maybe two hours."

"I'm not complaining."

"Okay," said Trisha.

When their food was ready, they ate as they walked to the nearest Baltimore Metro station. Trisha split her cookie with Noah as they finished their drinks.

"Why did you order something with that much caffeine?" asked Noah.

"Because I could, that's why."

"You're gonna be so hyper later!" said Noah. "What am I gonna do with you?"

Trisha shrugged and nibbled on her half of the cookie as they arrived at the station. Noah hadn't done anything with his hair, so it was slightly messy. Trisha liked it; it gave off a devil-may-care vibe about him that she found irresistible.

"Do you think I look professional enough?" asked Trisha.

"Yeah, I do," said Noah.

They were lucky enough to catch the first train that arrived, and were even luckier to get seats – someone nearby mentioned to them that the trains were usually more crowded because the subway was new to the city.

"I looked through your folder last night," said Noah.

"What, this?" said Trisha, gesturing to the folder on her lap.

"Saw some interesting stuff in there too," said Noah. "For someone who doesn't like flying, I'm surprised you studied abroad – twice."

"Northwestern had some special summer programs for pre-med students, I decided to take advantage of them," said Trisha. "I didn't want to let my discomfort prevent me from doing something interesting and fun, something that would open my eyes to medicine in other cultures."

"That says a lot about you," said Noah.

"How so?"

"You're a lot stronger than you think you are," said Noah.


	6. Chapter 6: Baltimore, Part II

**A/N: Been at my new job almost a month, things are going well and am currently trying to just work hard, get some extra cash in my pocket, and write this story. I hope you guys are enjoying it, whoever is reading it anyways.**

 **Chapter 6- Baltimore, Part II**

They spent the rest of their time on the subway talking then after getting off took a short walk to the campus where the John Hopkins School of Medicine resided.

"No one knows me here, in Baltimore," said Trisha.

"You don't seem upset about that," said Noah.

Trisha shook her head, a smile dancing across her face. Noah knew that the Kimble case had gotten a lot of press attention, vaguely making him wonder just how much hell Trisha had caught solely for being related to him, let alone for believing the man was innocent.

They went inside, where two girls stood by a reception desk apparently waiting for them.

"Hi!" said one of the girls. "You must be Trisha, right?"

"Yeah, that's me," said Trisha.

"I'm Rebecca, and this is Lauren," said the girl as she gestured to another girl next to her.

"Nice to meet you guys," said Trisha. "I'm curious, what years are you?"

"Second year," said Rebecca.

"Fourth year," said Lauren. "Will your boyfriend be accompanying us on the tour?"

Trisha blushed furiously, her face almost turning the color of fresh tomatoes. Why couldn't she just laugh it off and say he was just a friend? Anything other than why he was really there? She hadn't been this tongue-tied since she had gone with Dana to see him at the Marshals' office, having difficulty saying what needed to be said.

Trisha had never been good with the opposite sex. Granted, she was better at flirting than she had been in high school but if she had the choice, she'd rather do homework than go out on a date with a college guy that she knew would probably just want a booty call.

She highly doubted Noah was like that, but there was the fact his mission was to get as much information as possible so the U.S. Marshals could arrest her uncle. No relationship was worth throwing her one living relative to the wolves.

"I'd like to, if you don't mind," said Noah.

Trisha nodded, and Noah noticed how much she was blushing. He would have to ask her about that later.

* * *

"So after your interview I'll be taking the two of you on a tour of the hospital, if your guy doesn't have a weak stomach," said Lauren.

Trisha giggled.

"I think I'll pass on that part of the tour," said Noah.

The girls chuckled but Trisha had a good idea as to why Noah didn't want to check out the hospital – for many people not aspiring to a career in medicine hospitals meant death, and for people with careers in law enforcement it was simply another reminder that one's mortality was just around the corner.

* * *

Noah and Trisha walked with Rebecca and Lauren around the expansive campus as they talked about the school and the opportunities available.

"Would you like to see the libraries or dining halls first?" asked Rebecca.

"That's an easy one – the libraries, of course!" said Trisha.

Noah chuckled and took Trisha's hand in his, which didn't go unnoticed by the girls showing them around Hopkins. The four of them eventually arrived at a large library. Noah couldn't help but notice the look on Trisha's face being akin to that of a kid on Christmas morning.

Surrounded by three floors worth of books, she seemed happy for the first time in a long time.

"So, this is the Welch Library," said Lauren. "It's the main library here at the John Hopkins School of Medicine and on the third floor, the Library of the Institute of Medicine."

"There are also plenty of areas on the first and second floors for students to study," said Rebecca.

"What's so special about the third floor?" asked Trisha.

"Follow us," said Rebecca.

The four of them went up two flights of stairs and Trisha was almost speechless at the volume of books and medical journals she saw when they finally got to the third floor. Several of the books she saw looked old.

"Wow… just, wow," said Trisha. "How old are the books up here?"

"Some of them are centuries old," said Rebecca.

"I believe the oldest one is a medical manuscript from Salerno that was printed 600 years ago," said Lauren.

"You're kidding!" said Noah.

"Nope," said Lauren.

Trisha hid a laugh – Noah's shock at how old the manuscript was, was very funny.

* * *

They then went to the Adolf Meyer Library, which was mostly frequented by medical students on clinical rotations in the departments of Psychiatry, Neurology, Neurosurgery, Neuroradiology, Anesthesiology and Critical Care Medicine, as well as the doctors who practiced in those specialties.

"Hey!" one of the doctors yelled. "Bring that girl you're showing around over here, I'm showing a tape of the craniotomy I just did!"

"What is that?" asked Noah.

"Surgical procedure," said Trisha.

"People tape surgeries?" Noah whispered.

Trisha nodded and followed Lauren and Rebecca to watch the tape the surgeon had popped into a VCR. For a split second, Noah saw Trisha give him a look of utter shock – like she had just realized something she hadn't realized before.

Whatever it was, Noah had a feeling it was something to do with the Kimble case.

* * *

They then toured the dining halls, which ended with the four of them eating lunch. Trisha nibbled on a slice of pizza and couldn't help but notice the look Noah was giving her.

"What?" said Trisha.

"How can you eat after watching a tape of someone's brains? Gross!"

Trisha, Rebecca, and Lauren burst into laughter.

* * *

Once the four of them arrived where the interviews were to be conducted, Rebecca left as her role in being a tour guide was finished. Lauren then showed Trisha and Noah where the chairs were and the three of them sat down.

"It'll most likely be a three-person panel, just try to relax," said Lauren.

"Relax?" said Trisha.

Noah laughed and shook his head, Trisha rolled her eyes.

"This isn't funny, Noah!" Trisha whispered. "This is my life we're talking about!"

"I think you're gonna do great," said Noah. "You're one of the smartest people I know."

"Yeah, right," said Trisha.

"I mean it, Trisha," said Noah.

Trisha saw in his eyes that he had meant every word.

 _Damn, he thinks I'm smarter than his boss. This could get interesting_ , thought Trisha.

"Trisha Kimble?" a voice called out.

Trisha took a deep breath and walked over as one of the interviewers led her into an office. She couldn't help but be relieved, in a way.

After all, this was going to be the very last medical school interview she would have to do.

 **One Hour Later**

While Trisha was being interviewed, Noah was on a payphone with Sam.

"You've gotta be kiddin' me! How did this not come up earlier?! And where is it?!"

"I don't know, Sam," said Noah. "And honestly, who's gonna watch it if we find it? I don't know about you but I'd rather pass. I've seen enough guts on this tour."

"I'll make Cosmo and Biggs sit through it then," said Sam.

Noah laughed.

"Might be a better idea if Poole watches it, she's got a stronger stomach than all of us combined," said Noah.

Sam laughed on the other end of the line. He was planning to watch the tape too – that is, if it hadn't already been destroyed.

"Kid, are we sure this tape even exists?"

"Trisha might know, I'll have to talk to her when the tour is over," said Noah.

"Where is she now?" asked Sam.

"Getting interviewed by some professors… doctors… whatever they're supposed to be called around here," said Noah.

Sam laughed again. Noah heard a door open and saw Trisha step out.

"Her interview is over, I gotta go. If I find out anything else I'll let you and the team know," said Noah.

The call ended and he saw Trisha looked much more relaxed than before the interview had started.

"How'd it go?" asked Noah.

"I think it went well, I'll know in two weeks."

"What happens in two weeks?"

"I'll be getting either an acceptance letter or a rejection letter," said Trisha.

"They'd be fools to reject you," said Noah.

Trisha smiled as the two of them held hands for the second time that day. She didn't know why it made her happy, but it did and she didn't want to over-think it.

Not today, anyway.

* * *

Trisha was excited as she walked through the various departments of John Hopkins Hospital with Lauren. Unsurprisingly, Noah was waiting in the reception area downstairs probably either reading a newspaper or talking to Gerard, feeding him intel.

After all, what else would he be doing while waiting for her?

The two young women soon reached their last stop, the Emergency Room.

"All medical students have to do a rotation in emergency medicine, so this is where it happens," said Lauren. "I hope you're not squeamish."

"Definitely not squeamish," said Trisha.

Two doors opened and someone was yelling about a patient having six gunshot wounds. Trisha and Lauren watched as the patient was wheeled into a trauma room, a trail of blood behind the stretcher.

"It's a shooting gallery here," said Lauren.

"Not too different from Chicago," said Trisha.

* * *

Noah looked up from the newspaper he was reading and saw Trisha and Lauren walking over to him.

"You two have a safe flight," said Lauren. "Oh, before I forget."

She pulled something out of her purse and handed it to Trisha.

"What are these?" asked Trisha.

"Berger cookies, they're a Baltimore specialty," said Lauren. "Don't lick the fudge off the cookie, it's blasphemy."

"If you're ever in Chicago, so is putting ketchup on a hot dog," said Trisha.

Lauren laughed.

"Bye, enjoy the rest of your time in Baltimore."

She left and went in one direction, Trisha and Noah went in a different way towards the train station they had exited earlier that morning. It had gotten dark, and it was getting cold.

"I need to ask you something," said Noah.

"Alright," said Trisha.

"Did Richard tape his surgeries?"

"Yeah, he did," said Trisha.

"Did he have a tape made the night Helen died?"

"I think so, I know that he had tapes made of all the surgeries he performed," said Trisha.

"Even the emergency ones?"

"Yeah, he was a vascular surgeon so having to scrub in on an emergency surgery wasn't uncommon for him," said Trisha. "He thought it was a good way to teach the surgical fellows he worked with."

"So, where is it?"

"The tape? I don't know, I know Bones popped one in –"

"Bones?" asked Noah.

"He's a guy at the hospital, keeps all the surgical tapes in the lab where he works," said Trisha. "He and my uncle were friends."

"So, why don't you know where it is?"

"It went missing, okay? Someone took the only copy, I don't know who or why," said Trisha.

"It would've either exonerated him or incriminated him," said Noah.

"I know," said Trisha. "I asked Charlie if he had taken it but he swore he didn't. I don't know who to believe."

"Charlie?"

"Dr. Charles Nichols, he told me he got a visit from your boss, Gerard. Wasn't too happy about it either," said Trisha.

"I don't think Sam liked him much," said Noah.

"I'm not even sure why I'm saying these things about him, he and Richard have been friends since they were in medical school together," said Trisha. "I've known Charlie my entire life."

"Even when you lived in California?"

"How do you know about California?" asked Trisha.

"Sam had people look for intel on you, okay? I wasn't part of that but I did read the file," said Noah.

All the color drained from Trisha's face as she struggled to keep her emotions in check. They had just arrived at the train station and she didn't want to lose it in front of a bunch of strangers.

"Trisha?" asked Noah.

A whimpering sound escaped her lips. To Noah, it sounded like a wounded animal.

 _Me and my big mouth, how could I have been such an idiot?_ , thought Noah.

They boarded a metro train and sat down. Against his better judgment, Noah put his arms around her. He was surprised when Trisha returned the embrace; he had thought she would've been angry at him.

"Now… now I know how someone would feel when naked in public," Trisha whispered. "I know it had to be done but, I feel so exposed and I don't like so many people knowing about everything I had to go through when I was younger."

She didn't speak anymore after that, but Noah could feel her tears falling on his coat. He understood all too well what it was like to lose a family member at a young age and not want to talk about it.

* * *

They eventually got back to the hotel, where Trisha apologized to Noah for getting upset.

"I'm sorry, Noah. I should've realized that you and the others would've wanted to know stuff about me," said Trisha. "I shouldn't have reacted the way I did."

"It's okay," said Noah.

They went up to where their hotel rooms were, but they went into Trisha's room instead of each of them going their separate ways.

"I think we need to talk," said Noah.

"No, we don't," said Trisha. "I know you want all this information but I don't know anything."

"I didn't mean talk about the case," said Noah. "I think you're bottling something up, and it's eating at you."

"It's something I hadn't thought of for a long time," said Trisha. "You probably already know how my parents died, and that I was with them when it happened."

"Yeah, it was a plane crash."

"That's not something a person can just walk away from," said Trisha. "Even people who survive usually have serious injuries, and I was no exception. I was in the hospital for nearly the entire summer. My birthday is in July, so unfortunately I had to spend my eleventh birthday in the hospital."

"That's awful," said Noah.

"That wasn't the worst of it," said Trisha. "I had horrible scars afterwards, especially on my face, and I got teased relentlessly as a result. I hated it. I decided to bury myself in schoolwork instead, because getting good grades seemed to be the only way I could best the people bullying me. I got plastic surgery shortly before my 18th birthday. My uncle wanted to wait until I actually _was_ 18, but the recovery was going to be around two months and I didn't want to start my college career off with a swollen head. I mean, last thing I needed was people calling me a pumpkin head my first week in college."

"That's disgusting, no one has the right to treat another person like that," said Noah. "Though I doubt Dana would've treated you like that."

"I doubt that too, she's always been very kind to me," said Trisha. "After my aunt Helen died and my uncle was remanded to the state pen, I stayed for most of the summer with Dana and her family in Texas."

Both of them were then rudely interrupted by their stomachs making loud growling noises.

"You're hungry too?" asked Noah.

"Yeah," said Trisha. "Lemme know what you want, I'll order room service."

"I got a better idea," said Noah.

"Like what?"

"What about we go out? My treat," said Noah.

"Like on a date?"

"No, not a date," said Noah.

"If it walks like a duck, quacks like a duck…"

"Alright, alright, it's a duck!" said Noah.

"Well quack quack, handsome," said Trisha. "I need to change into something a bit cuter than what I'm currently wearing. Give me about half an hour to get ready, okay?"

Smirking, Trisha got ready as Noah went back to his hotel room so she could have some privacy.

"Sam is going to kill me," Noah muttered.

 **The libraries in this chapter do exist at Hopkins, I looked it up. As for the Berger cookies, they're a cultural icon of Baltimore. They're shortbread cookies covered in chocolate fudge. Review, it helps me write faster!**


	7. 7: Status Quo, AKA The Battle of Wits

**A/N: So, this is what happened - doc wanted to increase my meds, stupid meds practically put me to sleep for 20 hours straight off and on for several days and as a result I was unable to get this up as fast as I wanted to. What. A. Drag. Enjoy!**

 **Chapter 7- Status Quo, AKA The Battle of Wits**

"Even in death, you're still trying to get me coupled up. Really, Aunt Helen? Really? He wants to arrest your husband!"

Trisha rolled her eyes in frustration and stood in front of the bathroom mirror. She looked a far cry from her usual self – she was wearing a beautiful black velvet dress that went to her knees with matching tights and the black shoes from earlier that day, and her dark brown hair that she usually wore up was down, going just past her shoulders.

FLASHBACK

" _When you're in college and you travel for anything other than your swim meets, always pack a little black dress," said Helen._

" _Why? I won't need it. I'm no one's catch," said Trisha._

" _You never know," said Helen._

END FLASHBACK

She hadn't been on a date, not ever, so she wasn't sure if she was overdoing it but the dress was the only thing she had packed that was really suitable for an evening date. All her other clothes had been for either the interview, or were jeans and T-shirts.

Trisha was not going to wear a T-shirt on a date with Noah Newman. Not the first date, anyway. She needed to make him squirm, at least a little bit – and since when had a T-shirt ever made a warm-blooded American male squirm?

 _Never, that's when_ , thought Trisha.

The only thing she wasn't sure of was the formality of where he would be taking her. That, and while it wasn't as cold in Baltimore as it currently was throughout the entire state of Illinois, it was still cold nonetheless so she grabbed a white cardigan from her suitcase and put it on.

She took another look at herself in the mirror then began doing her makeup.

* * *

Screwed. There was really no other way to put it – he was screwed.

Noah Newman had had almost half an hour to think about the mess he was in. He doubted Cosmo would've objected – hell, if the older deputy had been present they probably would've exchanged high fives and Cosmo would've told Noah to forget about Sam might think, and go for it.

He could also recall Biggs, who was happily married, once telling him to never back out of something he said he'd do either with, or for, a woman he might have feelings for.

"You'll wish you were on a manhunt, trust me kid," Biggs had said.

 _If Sam finds out, I'm dead. If I tell her I want to cancel, I'm dead. Damnit, I'm dead_ , thought Noah.

He heard a timid knock on the door to his hotel room, and checked the clock in the kitchen.

His half hour was up.

Noah sighed and opened the door – he almost didn't recognize her.

"Wow," said Noah. "You... you look great."

"Thanks," said Trisha. "Um… where do you want to go?"

"Not sure, I've never been to Baltimore before."

"Me neither, maybe someone at the desk in the lobby might know a good place," said Trisha. "Although, I did read somewhere that Baltimore, and all of Maryland in general, is famous for its seafood. You like seafood?"

"I'll eat anything once."

"So long as it's not fugu, that shit will kill you," said Trisha.

"What?!"

"Puffer fish, my aunt once told me she heard of people dying after ingesting it despite it supposedly being prepared properly," said Trisha.

"Yuck!"

"Don't worry, I highly doubt anyplace around here serves it. It's more common in Japan," said Trisha.

They set off for the hotel lobby, and when they arrived it seemed to be busy despite the fact that it was nighttime. A girl was manning the desk when Trisha and Noah walked up.

"Know anyplace good around here that serves seafood?" asked Noah.

The girl laughed.

"Sorry," said the girl. "I mean, this is Baltimore – there's good seafood restaurants everywhere, it'd be easier if I knew whether you wanted to stay here in the Inner Harbor or venture elsewhere."

"Around here's fine," said Noah.

"There are a couple places, but I'd recommend Phillip's Seafood. Then Vacaro's in Little Italy for dessert, it's not too far for walking distance and the area's safe," said the girl.

* * *

Phillip's Seafood was packed when they walked inside. It appeared to be a mix of tourists and locals alike.

"Good, it's warm in here," Trisha whispered as she stood closer to Noah.

"How many in your party?" asked the hostess.

"Two," said Noah.

"Okay," said the hostess. "It's gonna be around 15 minutes for a table, if you'd like you can have a seat at the bar while you wait."

Noah was about to say he'd rather sit on some nearby chairs, when two small children claimed the chairs for themselves.

As a result, he and Trisha found themselves sitting at the bar as she perused the menu. He was surprised they had been able to get seats there as other people waiting for tables had also grabbed seats at the bar.

"Either of you want anything?" asked the bartender.

"No, I'm alright," said Trisha. "Thank you though."

"Same here," said Noah.

She was about to pick up the menu again so she would know what she wanted for dinner, when she realized Noah had taken one of her hands in his own. She felt herself blushing furiously as she smiled.

 _Screwed. I am so screwed. Oh well_ , thought Trisha.

* * *

A waitress came over and led them to a booth in the middle of the restaurant. The smell of crab wafting through the restaurant made Trisha's mouth water; it was one of her favorite things to eat.

However, both of them decided they wanted a few minutes to look over the menu as a waiter brought them glasses of soda.

"Too much yummy stuff to choose from," said Trisha.

"You might be the first woman I've taken out on a date that seems to like seafood a lot," said Noah.

"Comes with spending part of my life on the west coast, I guess," said Trisha. "My dad had a boat, and after he got home from work, if the weather was good, he'd take me and my mom, if she was able to go, and the three of us would go fishing. Sometimes it was just me and him, especially if my mom had a case."

"Case?"

"She was an Assistant District Attorney," said Trisha.

"What did your dad do?"

Trisha smirked a little bit, and Noah vaguely wondered what she was going to say next.

"He was a lawyer too, but he was a defense attorney," said Trisha.

"You're kidding!"

"No, I'm not."

"Did they meet in court or something?" asked Noah.

"Yeah. They didn't get along at first, but obviously that changed 'cuz here I am," said Trisha.

Noah smiled and shook his head.

"What?" said Trisha.

"Please tell me you're kidding."

"Why would I kid about how my parents met each other?" asked Trisha. "I know it sounds more funny than anything but it's true. One of my dad's friends told me about it at a Christmas party several years ago after he drank too much."

"And which friend was this?" asked Noah.

"That'd be telling," said Trisha.

"Maybe I want to know."

"What for?"

"You know why," said Noah.

"Yeah, I do know why – cripes, if it isn't sex a man wants from me it's information on my past so he can arrest my uncle," said Trisha. "For you, I'd much rather take my clothes off."

She watched as Noah turned a horrible shade of red. By now, she was certain the marshal was a virgin. She was okay with that, she was too – but she highly doubted he would call her bluff either.

He didn't.

"No, no way. Sam would kill us both. He'd kill me if he knew we were on a date right now."

"Don't worry Noah, your secret is safe with me," said Trisha.

"No strings attached?"

"No strings attached," said Trisha.

A waiter came by, and they ordered the crab dip appetizer. They had also decided on their entrée by that point as well – the restaurant's clam bake for two. The waiter took their order and the two of them continued talking until the crab dip arrived.

"That looks delicious," said Trisha.

Noah nodded, and they began eating it with the breadsticks that accompanied the crab dip.

"I can't really figure you out," said Noah.

"There isn't really anything to figure out, Noah."

"You could've caused a lot of trouble, but you haven't," said Noah.

"I could say the same thing about you – the trying to figure things out, I mean," said Trisha.

"Why?" asked Noah.

"For starters, you know a lot about me yet I know almost nothing about you," said Trisha. "Also, you don't look at all like a U.S. Marshal. Your boss definitely does but you? No, you don't."

"It's the hair, isn't it?" said Noah.

"I like the hair, I think it suits you," said Trisha.

Noah reached across the table and took her hand in his, then smiled.

Trisha Kimble was a mystery he was going to enjoy figuring out.

 **In the beginning, I was attempting some writing involving sarcastic conversations with dead people. I tend to let my belief in the supernatural influence my writing... a lot. Heck, I once asked my boyfriend if his long-dead grandfather would've liked me, because I know he had that big of an impact on my boyfriend's life, even though I never got to meet the man. Chapter 8 will hopefully come much sooner now that the medication issue has been sorted out.**


	8. Chapter 8: What Next?

**A/N: So, I am now finished another new chapter. And now I am going to bed, I have work tomorrow. Luckily most of my shifts this week are at night so the insomnia that instead of trying to fix, I wind up using the time to write, won't be an issue.**

 **Chapter 8- What Next?**

Their entrée arrived around 20 minutes later – five varieties of seafood in a big pot that also contained red potatoes and corn. Trisha had thought of ordering a glass of wine for herself but didn't like to drink the night before she had to fly somewhere – Dana had partied too hard during spring break the year before, and it had been a nightmare flying back to campus with her.

That, and for some ungodly reason Trisha found annoying, restaurants loved to make alcoholic drinks expensive and the last thing she wanted was to have Noah think she was high-maintenance. She had had a guy once think that about her solely because she was well off, but how could someone judge another person solely on their financial situation without getting to know them first?

"Are you okay?"

Noah's question snapped Trisha out of her thoughts.

"Sorry, I… I had something on my mind," said Trisha. "Not about the case, though."

"Okay," said Noah. "Are these crab legs?"

He grabbed what appeared to be a crab leg out of the pot. Sure enough, it was a crab leg.

"Yep, snow crab I think," said Trisha. "Hand it over."

"No, I think I'll keep it," said Noah.

Trisha giggled, and Noah wondered how often he would get to hear her laugh. For obvious reasons, it didn't seem to happen often.

"Fine with me, there's plenty more in there but since there are only two lobsters I think we should share those equally – unless of course you don't like lobster," said Trisha.

"No, I'm definitely taking one of the lobsters," said Noah.

Trisha laughed and took one of the two lobsters for herself – getting the meat out of the shell was going to take awhile.

"So… why did you become a marshal?" asked Trisha

"Why do you want to become a doctor?"

"Answering a question with a question? Why is that, Noah?"

"I'd rather not answer you right now," said Noah. "I'll tell you, just not tonight."

"Okay," said Trisha. "As for me, I survived a major tragedy when I was young. I got a second chance. I want to do the same for others and make a difference."

"Your uncle being a doctor had nothing to do with it?"

"Noah Newman, you should know better by now than to ask me stuff like that," said Trisha. "It's a good thing you're cute."

Noah shook his head and laughed. Trisha also laughed.

* * *

The remains of seafood shells and vegetables lay scattered in the pot and on their plates.

"Wow. That was delicious," said Noah. "I don't think I could run after eating all that though, so don't make me chase you."

Trisha giggled and sipped her soda.

"You sure you still want to go to Vaccaro's?" asked Trisha.

Noah nodded. He didn't really want the night to end. The last time he had been on a date, it had been a double date with Cosmo, and it had been a disaster. The girl he had been set up with had had no brains to speak of, and by the time the night had ended he had been miserable and had begged Cosmo never to set him up on a blind date again.

That had been six months ago.

Trisha was different. He knew he shouldn't become involved with someone that was entangled in a case, but that ship had sailed. He could have an actual conversation with her, which was more than could be said for the disastrous parade of bimbos that Cosmo was often seen with.

She also had a cute laugh, and if he could do anything to get her to laugh despite everything going on her life, he would. He knew what it was like to go to hell and back, and it was a lot harder to come back than to simply stay there and let the demons take over.

And yet… what if it led to more heartache?

* * *

They paid and left, walking towards Baltimore's Little Italy.

"Noah?" asked Trisha.

"Yeah?"

"You've been quiet. What's going on?"

"Maybe we should just go back to the hotel," said Noah. "This isn't a good idea, and not because of the case but what if something happens? I mean, you've been through a lot, and –"

"Okay, you can stop right there," said Trisha. "If I've learned anything from all the hell I've endured it's that no one is getting off this polluted rock alive, so why play it safe?"

"Damnit," said Noah. "Why do you have to be right?"

"I'm smart, that's why. Now let's find this place and get out of the cold," said Trisha.

They walked, hand in hand, until they found Vaccaro's. Under the sign for the bakery, Trisha saw something and smiled.

"Noah, look," said Trisha.

"What is it?"

"Just look, silly."

He looked up and smiled when he realized what the phrase was underneath the signage for the store – it read "Life is short, eat dessert first."

When they went inside, they saw a bakery filled with Italian pastries and several couples seated at small tables.

"This looks cozy," said Trisha.

"Looks like a place out of Cosmo's nightmares," said Noah.

"Isn't he Italian though?" asked Trisha.

"Yeah, but if he saw this many happy couples he'd die of fright," said Noah.

Laughing, they looked at the myriad of choices available to them. A group of old men was also staring at the baked goods and talking. Noah caught one of them staring at Trisha, and the old man quickly looked away.

"I'll pay this time," said Trisha.

"No, I got it."

"You sure?"

"Yeah," said Noah. "Thank you though."

A middle-aged woman ran up to the counter upon spotting Trisha and Noah.

"What can I get for you?" the woman asked.

"I don't know, what's good?" asked Trisha.

"Everything is good here," said the woman.

"My girl and I are from out of town, she just did her last medical school interview today, so we're celebrating," said Noah.

"Hopkins?" the woman asked.

"Yes ma'am," said Trisha.

"We'll get two cannolis and hot chocolate, please," said Noah.

They were given their cannolis on plates, and the cannolis were bigger than Noah thought they would be. They were then given their hot chocolate in large mugs, which Trisha carried while Noah paid for their food and carried the cannolis as they found a table to sit at. Once they did, they ate their desserts and talked.

"I wish we didn't have to go back to Chicago," said Trisha.

"Well, if we don't Sam might go ape and sic the dogs on us," said Noah.

"Let him, I'm fed up with everyone," said Trisha.

"Trisha Kimble you have no idea the wrath you court making such a statement," said Noah.

She leaned forward as if to kiss him, but stopped short of doing so.

"I am a woman who has almost nothing left to lose, so bring on the damn dogs," Trisha whispered.

"Well, dogs bite so no thanks," said Noah.

"Better get him tested for rabies then," said Trisha.

Noah laughed so hard that he almost snorted hot chocolate out of his nose.

"That's just… why? Why?" said Noah.

Trisha smirked and finished her cannoli.

"Seriously though… I… this… what happens after we go back, Noah?"

"I didn't really think that far ahead," said Noah sheepishly. "I'm not saying I don't want it to continue. I do. We just need to be careful about it."

"I can do that," said Trisha. "I think it's mostly the other marshals we need to worry about finding out, college students don't like to be seen as narcs."

"Well that's just great, how am I supposed to get information about your uncle from Dana or any other friends you have?"

"I don't have friends, I have loyal minions who do my bidding and don't ask meddlesome questions," said Trisha. "As for you, you should've thought about that. Dana and my other pals know better than to cross me because I'm one of the smartest students on campus, my IQ alone is scary to them."

"Those other friends of yours, maybe. Dana, I doubt it," said Noah.

"Yeah, you got me there," said Trisha. "Dana's the crazy one, I'm the smart one. She and I are a team. Don't get me wrong, she's smart, just not as smart as me."

"That doesn't surprise me," said Noah.

"Knowing her, we'll get back to the sorority house and there will be a miniature volcano erupting in the kitchen that she built because I wasn't there to tell her not to do that… again," said Trisha.

"Again?" said Noah.

"She wants to be a volcanologist," said Trisha. "That's her plan, anyway. I guess this makes me a magnet for thrill seekers."

"How am I a thrill seeker?" asked Noah.

"You chose a career that involves kicking down doors and getting shot at," said Trisha. "I believe I've made my point."

"I believe you have."

They laughed and finished their food, then walked back to the hotel. However, they didn't go their separate ways – they went back to Trisha's room and she turned on the TV.

"What are you looking for?" asked Noah.

"A movie that might be on for us to…"

She flipped past a channel then went back towards it with the buttons on the remote.

"Oh! I love this one!" said Trisha.

"What is it?" asked Noah.

" _The Princess Bride_ ," said Trisha. "It's one of my favorite movies ever, I love it."

They sat on the couch and watched it together. Noah initially thought he might've agreed to watch a chick flick, but the fencing scene between two of the characters looked promising.

Noah put an arm around Trisha, and she wanted to kiss him but she was a little nervous. She had never made the first move before, not even in Spin the Bottle because no one had ever wanted her to play the game with them.

 _Because who wants to kiss a girl with scars all over her face while playing Spin the Bottle?_ , thought Trisha.

Several minutes passed, and she had barely worked up the courage to make a move on him when his clunky cell phone rang.

"Damnit!" Trisha whispered as Noah answered his phone.

She shut off the TV, as it would probably just annoy him. Luckily, the call ended a few minutes later.

"That was Sam," said Noah. "He wanted to know what time our flight was supposed to depart tomorrow. I told him 4 p.m. east coast time and he didn't sound too happy."

"Course not, he probably hates me," said Trisha.

A"I know you're trying to help me feel better, but I have been treated worse than dog feces off and on since January of last year so yeah, people hate me," said Trisha. "There's a group of feminists on campus, they decided to target me because I wasn't behaving the way they thought I should after Helen… anyway they've egged me several times and one of them actually threw a rock at my head."

"What?!"

"Yep. Bitch missed but Dana saw the whole thing and dumped sour milk on her," said Trisha. "It was gross but she deserved it."

"Remind me not to cross the Pele spawn."

"Pele spawn? Oookay, you gotta make up for that one."

"And how do you propose I do that?"

"Kiss me," said Trisha.

 **That bakery in Baltimore is real, so is the sign. I saw the picture of it somewhere on Yelp, which I thought was ironic. Review, I really am able to update quicker now that that issue with my meds has been fixed! :)**


	9. Chapter 9: Pizza Debates and Fishy Dates

**A/N: I'm baaaaack! Boy, was today awful. I thought Mondays were supposed to be awful but today was worse! Leave some reviews, I need cheerin' up! That's an order! jk**

 **Chapter 9- Pizza Debates and Fishy Dates**

She hadn't exactly been sure what to expect. The last time she had been kissed was maybe a year or two ago under some mistletoe by a very drunk frat boy whose breath had smelled of tuna. Not the good kind either, the kind that came out of a can and always seemed to smell terrible unless she heaped a lot of mayonnaise on it.

However, this was different. This was someone she liked, and the butterflies in her stomach were threatening to undermine everything in this very moment.

"You're crazy," Noah whispered.

Blue eyes met brown ones as their lips met in a kiss that had Trisha seeing stars. Sitting on the couch, the kiss deepened as Noah gently pulled Trisha closer to him.

They separated after a few minutes, and Noah brushed some hair out of Trisha's face.

"You're a great kisser," said Trisha.

"And you're trouble," said Noah. "Why do I get the feeling you're trying to distract me?"

"If I wanted to distract you I'd have done something much more elaborate or crazy by now," said Trisha. "I… I didn't expect… this."

"Me neither."

* * *

The next morning had both Noah and Trisha eager to spend time with each other before their flight back to Chicago later that day. They both knew they couldn't let whatever was going on between them become public – Sam would have both their heads.

And yet, Trisha was happier than she had been in a long time. A part of her knew she shouldn't be, but she couldn't help it.

"Maybe we should go see the aquarium – Baltimore has a large one," said Trisha.

"Where is it?" asked Noah.

"Right here in the Inner Harbor, it's the National Aquarium."

Trisha grabbed a pamphlet she had taken when they had arrived at the hotel Friday night, and handed it to Noah. He read over it as she drank some coffee.

"You shouldn't drink so much coffee."

"Why not?"

"It's bad for you."

"I need coffee, Noah. _Need_ it," said Trisha.

"No, you don't. You can go without it for a few hours."

Trisha looked at Noah as if he had grown a second head.

"You have a copy of my schedule, you know I will more than likely need to do homework both on the plane and after I land. Ergo, I need the caffeine," said Trisha.

"You should also give yourself a break."

"You're kidding, right? If I don't graduate first in my class then this whole year was a waste of my time."

"You'll burn yourself out doing this, perhaps instead of loading up on so much coffee you should attempt to relax. I mean, you probably got through that interview okay," said Noah.

"I won't know until I get a letter saying whether I've been accepted or rejected, which could happened in two to three weeks, four at the most," said Trisha. "Least it was my last interview, I tried to schedule most of them during fall quarter and winter break but this one I was unable to because they had a ton of candidates this year. I'm not sure I did well enough to get in."

"I think they liked you, Trisha. You'll get in," said Noah.

* * *

They left the hotel and went to Vaccaro's for lunch – the idea of eating only dessert for lunch appealed to Trisha, possibly due to the romantic situation she was currently in.

"There was a pizza place that was closer to the hotel," said Noah.

"That's not pizza, you handsome heathen!" said Trisha.

"Pizza is pizza, Trisha."

"No, Noah. It's not. There's the deep-dish and stuffed pizza us Chicagoans eat and the thin regular pizza everyone else eats," said Trisha. "And the only time I ever ate thin pizza was the time I went drinking with some friends in a bar because you try holding a slice with two hands and drinking a beer, you'd need a third arm. So since I'm not drinking, I'm not eating the thin stuff that passes for pizza."

"I didn't grow up in Chicago so what's the big deal?"

Trisha let out an exasperated sigh and yet couldn't help but laugh.

"Noah Newman, I do not know when but we will go out for deep-dish or stuffed pizza at some point after we get back to Chicago. I'm holding you to it, this is happening."

"Alright, I guess I can't put it off any longer since Biggs keeps teasing me about my not ever having eaten it."

"I'm not surprised," said Trisha. "Didn't you mention at some point this weekend that he'll eat anything once?"

"Yeah, I did."

Laughing, the couple walked into Vaccaro's and wondered if they should order actual food or simply try one of the gelato sundaes that was listed on the bakery menu. The same woman who had waited on them the night before was there, and recognized them.

"Hello again," said the woman.

"My girlfriend is trying to get me on a sugar buzz, I won't allow it," said Noah.

"You have no choice," said Trisha.

"Yes, I do," said Noah. "This place got any sandwiches?"

The woman gestured to the menu above her head. Both Noah and Trisha noticed the Italian-style grilled cheese sandwiches and ordered those. However, Trisha still got the last word in and ordered a gelato sundae to split with Noah.

He had no idea as they ate their sandwiches what they were in for as the plate arrived, heaped with two different types of gelato and fudge.

"I picked both flavors, I hope that was okay," said Trisha.

"What did you pick?"

"Chocolate chocolate chip and peanut butter fudge," said Trisha.

"You're either going to be the death of me, or you're trying to fatten me up so I can't chase your uncle when we get back to Chicago," said Noah.

"Oh, crap!" said Trisha in mock horror. "You foiled my master plan!"

It took the deputy marshal an entire minute to realize she was kidding.

"That was a joke?" asked Noah.

She immediately began laughing. At first it was a small giggle that she tried to hide, but it eventually morphed into a belly laugh that sounded like the sweetest of songs.

"Oh my goodness!" said Trisha, gasping between fits of laughter. "I… I can't remember the last time I laughed so hard!"

Noah reached across the table and took her hand in his. He wasn't offended – he had been the victim of worse pranks from the team – but he wished Trisha would laugh more. He knew she had good reason not to, but seeing her laugh, seeing her smile was something he wanted to see more often because it meant she was happy.

He would give anything to see her like that more often.

* * *

After they finished their lunch, the couple walked hand in hand to the National Aquarium.

"That was the first time I had gelato, it was delicious," said Noah. "Thanks for getting the jump on me with that one."

"Anytime," said Trisha.

Once they were inside the National Aquarium, neither of them knew where to go first – not only was it a first visit for both of them, but the place was huge. Trisha grabbed a map and looked through it.

"Hmm… jelly tank, shark tank, rain forest exhibit… we'll definitely have a lot to do before we have to be at BWI later," said Trisha.

"I don't think I've been to an aquarium like this," said Noah.

They walked around to various exhibits, and Trisha couldn't help but grin ear to ear at the various species of marine life – she loved the water. Before either of them knew it, they were in the same vicinity that the shark tank was.

"Ooookay this is far enough," said Noah.

"Farewell and ado to your fair Spanish lady…" said Trisha as she walked backwards to where the shark tanks were.

"Okay Spanish Lady, to our doom we go," said Noah.

He followed her and stared at the various species of sharks. One of them had a long snout with its teeth showing, but he didn't see the great white from the infamous horror film he and Trisha had just been quoting.

"Jaws doesn't live here, so don't worry about him," said Trisha.

They spent several more minutes exploring before going to another area of the aquarium where various species of jellyfish swam in an almost hypnotic fashion. Noah liked them; they seemed to give off a glow. The sharks hadn't been too bad either; the one he'd seen with the toothy snout had been interesting and another shark he'd seen (Trisha had told him it was a nurse shark) had appeared to be resting on the floor of the tank it was in.

"You seem to know a lot about this stuff," said Noah.

"I love the ocean," said Trisha. "I feel at peace around any body of water but the ocean especially. If I wasn't reading about medical stuff I was reading about marine life."

"So what would you have done if you hadn't passed the MCAT test?"

"Probably attempted it one more time before deciding I was better off becoming a marine biologist," said Trisha.

"Not go into law like your parents?"

"I've had my fill of the legal system, thank you very much."

"Just not everyone in it… I hope?" said Noah.

"No. I actually think you're very sweet," said Trisha.

* * *

They walked around, looked at other exhibits in the aquarium, and talked. Unfortunately, the time flew by too quickly for them both and they soon had to head back to the hotel to check out, and then to BWI airport.

"I feel like this weekend flew by way too fast," said Trisha.

"It did," said Noah. "How good is that friend of yours at keeping secrets?"

"Dana? She's alright, she'll keep her mouth shut," said Trisha.

"Good, because I might come see you at the sorority house and I'd rather nobody else find out," said Noah. "Not even Cosmo because he'd tell everyone and Sam would overreact."

Trisha nodded and they boarded their flight back to Chicago.

 **Two Hours Later**

It was not an easy landing, to say the least. There had been a bad storm as they had been flying into Illinois, and Trisha's face was a horrible ashen grey color as Noah helped her get off the plane.

"I. Hate. Flying," Trisha whispered.

"Do you have to fly for any away games?"

"Not usually, most of the time I've been lucky enough that it's a state or two away and Skeeter will charter a bus for the team, it's not even because I don't like to fly. It's more affordable that way," said Trisha. "Plus it's easier on all of us because we can bring everything we need, and not have to worry about losing anything."

Noah looked at her, his blue eyes filled with concern. He knew the last thing she wanted was for anyone to notice any weakness she might have, and this was one of her bigger ones.

Ironically enough, he knew at least one person who would want to exploit that – Sam. Sam wasn't a bad person but he was very unrelenting when it came to apprehending fugitives. From what Cosmo had told Noah a few months ago, Sam practically lived for the job, the chase, everything to do with being a deputy marshal.

"I – I'll be okay, the sooner we get out of here the better," said Trisha.

"You sure?"

"Yeah," Trisha whispered.

They found their luggage and took the L train to Northwestern. When they eventually arrived, Noah noticed a pickup truck circling the station.

"I don't like the looks of that, don't go down there," said Noah.

"It's Dana's truck, I called her last night so we could get a ride to the sorority house," said Trisha. "Did you want to walk all the way to the other end of campus?"

Shaking his head, Noah followed Trisha down the steps of the L station, and they got into the back of Dana's truck.

"It's about time, lovebirds," said Dana. "Fasten your seatbelts, we got problems."

They did as she said, and then she took off. Noah was convinced that Dana was breaking whatever the legal speed limit was.

"Ha! Don't tell me about problems, I have problems!" said Trisha.

"No, _we_ have problems," said Dana. "Your buddies from the Lambda frat house went apeshit on Ralph."

"That's really not my problem, he deserves whatever he gets," said Trisha.

"Isn't that the guy who taunted her at the pool?" said Noah angrily.

"Yep," said Dana. "Anyways, Trisha, your three buddies grabbed their paintball gear and they're chasing him all over the place."

"Great, just great," Trisha muttered. "I didn't want to come back to this!"

"Paintball?" asked Noah. "What exactly does that entail?"

"Protective gear, and guns loaded with paint balls," said Dana.

"Yeah, I'm with Trisha on this – I refuse to deal with it," said Noah.

All three of them laughed as the truck pulled into a parking spot on Greek Row.

"We're back," said Dana.

The three of them got out of the truck and began to walk towards the sorority house. Suddenly a guy covered in paint and wearing only boxers ran past them, followed by three guys wearing gear that made them look like space aliens.

"Go! Go, run!" Trisha yelled.

The three of them made a run for it just as one of the alien boys spotted them.

"One of the marshals is here, shut it down!" one of the boys yelled.

"No way, I got that asshole in my sights!" another guy shouted. "I'm gonna shoot him in the nuts!"

"And then you'll get shot for real, shut it down now!" the first guy yelled.

"And if any of you paintball my truck you're all dead!" Dana yelled.

The first guy to shout something took off his helmet.

"Hi. My name's Lou, the idiot over there is Jonathan and the skinny one is Matt – Jonathan usually isn't an idiot, he just has a score to settle is all," said Lou.

"I can guess what kind," said Trisha, scowling.

"Matt, take my helmet while I help these poor bastards with their luggage," said Lou.

Lou tossed his helmet to Matt and grabbed Trisha and Noah's suitcases, following everyone else into the sorority house.

 **TBC! It's supposed to snow a lot this weekend so I'll be marooned with my laptop, some hot chocolate, and wonder ideas for chapter 10!**


	10. Chapter 10: Best Laid Plans

**A/N: Here ye, here ye! The 10th chapter! And some twists to be had, so by all means review and lemme know what you think!**

 **Chapter 10- Best Laid Plans**

It was mayhem and madness when Matt and Jonathan showed up at the sorority house. All the girls had decided to make a big deal out of Trisha's return and were opening up various bottles of alcohol.

"Either of you bring me any clothes?" asked Lou.

"Yeah, here," said Jonathan.

Noah watched as one of the frat boys tossed Lou a pair of jeans and a T-shirt that appeared to have a picture of Nirvana on it.

"Thanks, I wanna get out of this stupid suit," said Lou.

He ran to the bathroom and shut the door. Noah studied the other two boys – Matt had a pair of glasses and was slightly scrawny, Jonathan appeared mad and had taken it upon himself to do shots of vodka.

"I don't know what's upsetting you, but drinking like that isn't going to help," said Noah.

Jonathan gave Noah the finger and ran to the stairwell as Lou came out of the bathroom. Noah couldn't place it, but Lou looked slightly familiar to him despite the fact that he hadn't met the college student before.

"Trisha! We need to talk!" Jonathan yelled.

"Shut up and let me change my clothes!" Trisha yelled.

"I'm going to kill Ralph, you hear me? I'm gonna kill him!"

"Shut up you moron, or Newman's gonna slap the cuffs on you and make you his bitch!" said Lou.

All three boys laughed as Trisha came down the stairs, followed by Dana.

"He slept with Rachael didn't he?" asked Trisha.

"Yeah…"

"Jonathan, I am so sorry. He's an ass."

"I don't get it, man. How have you not slept with him, and she has? You aren't dating anyone and yet you're immune to his disgusting bullshit!" said Jonathan.

"Yeah, about that… I am seeing someone now."

"That's great!" said Matt.

"Don't let that deputy find out, he'll make the dweeb narc on you!" said Jonathan. "As I am going to law school next year I highly advise against it!"

Lou began laughing so hard he fell off the couch.

"Dude, you okay?" asked Matt.

"Fine!" Lou spluttered. "It's… it's… I know who it is!"

"Who?" asked Trisha.

"The good ol' deputy himself!" said Lou. "Someone gimme a beer!"

One of the younger sorority sisters got Lou a beer, and he responded by kissing her hard on the mouth. Noah then realized who the student was – it was Cosmo's cousin. Cosmo had a picture of the two of them on his desk, with a pair of women wearing only bikinis. Cosmo had bragged about a road trip to Vegas, and the two of them going through – in Cosmo's words – more girls than socks.

Noah wasn't sure he liked the idea of a younger version of Cosmo hanging around with his girlfriend, yet Lou appeared to be leaving her alone.

"Damnit, Lou!" Trisha yelled. "Stop sleeping with the freshmen!"

"They aren't pledges anymore, knock it off!"

"And you!" Jonathan slurred. "Stop sleeping with the deputy!"

"She won't give her cherry away to save her uncle, you fool!" Dana yelled.

"Thanks for announcing to Noah that I'm a virgin, thanks a lot," said Trisha.

"Anything you say – over dinner! In the bedroom! Will be used against you, in a court of law!" Jonathan slurred.

The entire sorority house erupted into laughter as Jonathan stole Lou's beer.

* * *

It was a few days later, and things had gotten back to normal – at least, as back to normal for Trisha as they could get, with one exception.

Noah had come to see her a few times since the night they had gotten back from Baltimore. She wished they could talk on the phone as well but they couldn't, not when they were trying to keep Sam and the other members of the team in the dark about their budding relationship.

After a long day of swim practice and classes, she had returned to the sorority house to find several of her sorority sisters staring at her.

"What's going on?" asked Trisha.

"Someone's been crank calling the house all day," said one of the girls. "We thought it might be that asshole Ralph but, he didn't sound like Ralph."

"Odd," Trisha muttered.

She went upstairs and spent a couple hours doing homework when the phone in the kitchen rang.

She wasn't sure what compelled her to go down to the kitchen and get the phone – perhaps because she knew the other girls might ignore it, but Dana had already beaten her to it.

"Wait!" Dana yelled.

Trisha stopped, thinking Dana was yelling at her, but realized it was the person on the other end of the line that Dana was yelling at. As Trisha came down the stairs, she noticed Dana doing a double-take, as if checking to make sure no one else was around.

"What the hell?" Trisha whispered.

Dana motioned for her to come over, handed the Trisha the phone, and ran upstairs.

"Are you alone?" the person on the other end of the phone asked.

"Who is this?" asked Trisha.

"It's Richard," said Richard.

Trisha put a hand over her mouth so she wouldn't make a sound, knowing if she did the girls who were busy with their homework might come rushing downstairs to find out what was going on.

"I'm the only one in the kitchen, are you okay?" Trisha whispered.

"I'm okay, but we need to talk."

"We already are talking."

"I need to see you in person, Trisha," said Richard. "I'm sure the police have questioned you about my whereabouts already, but that guy in the tunnel was not CPD, I know that much."

"What guy? What tunnel?"

"I don't know his name, but he was a jerk."

"What does any of this have to do with me?" asked Trisha.

"You might know more than I do, so we need to meet," said Richard.

"Uncle Richard, that might get me arrested – aiding and abetting, obstructing an investigation, shall I go on?" Trisha hissed.

"It's not like I'm asking you for money, I just want to know what the plan is so I can stay ahead of it," said Richard. "I need to stay out of jail so I can find out who killed Helen, because god knows no one else cares who did it."

"I care, you know I care," said Trisha. "I loved her too you know."

"I know you did, you two were thick as thieves," said Richard. "We need to meet but we need to plan this out right so I don't get caught or get you into any trouble."

"I can't meet up with you tomorrow, it's a school night," said Trisha. "It'll be obvious if I slip away."

"Smart thinking," said Richard.

"I can do it in two days, it'll be a Friday night then," said Trisha. "I talk the girls into throwing a party and I'll be able to slip away undetected. They were cracking bottles open a few nights ago just to celebrate me getting back to campus."

"No drinking and driving."

"No driving period, I'll just walk to the L station close to campus."

"Don't do that," said Richard.

"If I don't, someone might get the license off my car," said Trisha. "Where do you want to meet?"

"Remember that bakery Helen loved?"

"I thought it closed," said Trisha.

"The building is still in one piece, and it's still vacant," said Richard. "There's a back alley, meet me there. No one will be looking for me there."

"No, but that area is sketchy and there might be some junkies looking to sell my body for a fix."

"That wasn't funny," said Richard.

"Me possibly getting arrested after busting my ass trying to get into medical school isn't funny either, Uncle Richard."

"It'll be okay," said Richard.

"If you say so," said Trisha. "I'll be there around 9pm, if you aren't there in 30 minutes I'm gonna have to leave. I'm sorry."

"That's okay, it's not the safest part of town and I won't make you wait long for me to be there," said Richard. "Carpe Noctem."

"Carpe Noctem," said Trisha.

They ended the call.

* * *

It was Friday night, and a big party at the Gamma Phi Beta house was in full swing. The girls were all wearing purple wigs with black masks – it had been Trisha's idea, so she could slip away undetected.

The Lambda frat boys had also shown up with a device of their own – a foam cannon, which was shooting foam all over the place.

"These things are the rage in Ibiza!" Lou yelled over the loud music blaring throughout the house.

"When were you in Ibiza?" Dana asked.

"His cousin took him!" Matt yelled.

"Shut up!" Lou yelled.

"You heard Lou, shut up Matt!" Jonathan yelled.

He drunkenly stumbled across the living area, where Trisha was sitting in a chair.

"You got any Jager?" Jonathan slurred.

"Yes, but whether I should give it to you is something else," said Trisha.

"Why, because good Jewish boys aren't supposed to behave like this?"

Trisha succumbed to a fit of giggles as she ran into the kitchen, Jonathan at her heels like a loyal puppy.

"Don't do it," Jonathan slurred.

"Don't do what?"

"This is your conscious speaking… just don't do it," Jonathan slurred.

"On second thought , I'll give you the Jager. Just don't be selfish and drink it all, I'd rather not have to perform CPR on you," said Trisha.

"Yessir," Jonathan slurred. "Yo, Louie! Matty! We got drinks!"

Trisha giggled, but knew she had to work fast. She handed Jonathan the bottle of Jager and ran upstairs. She saw Lou, but he was making out with a girl and was too busy playing with said girl's boobs to notice Trisha was close by.

Shaking her head, Trisha went into her bedroom, shut the door, and removed her wig and mask before opening the window and climbing down the side of the sorority house. She was forced to jump a few feet from the bottom and landed hard on the grass.

She limped into the woods and ran through the trees, grateful for the cover they provided as she walked by foot to the L station she normally used to get to Chicago.

By the time she boarded an L train, she had to sit down – her knee was bothering her from the hard landing earlier.

* * *

Dana heard a weird noise and went into the bedroom she shared with Trisha. Noticing the window was open she closed it then went back to the party. Seeing Ralph, she got angry.

"What the hell is that ingrate doing here," she muttered.

Neither of them were aware that Jonathan was close by, but for someone who had had too much to drink, he could still pack a punch – the frat boy sucker punched Ralph in the face before the wrestler knew what had hit him.

It then devolved to a fight on the floor, and Dana ran upstairs to find Trisha only to see that her best friend was nowhere to be found. She then opened up the bedroom doors at random until she found Lou, who was naked, in the middle of things, and not happy at being interrupted.

"Can't you knock?! So rude!"

"Jonathan is beating Ralph to a pulp downstairs."

"Let him, that meathead deserves it," said Lou.

"They're going to break a window if they keep it up," said Dana. "Now get dressed, before one of Ralph's frat buddies calls the cops on us. You too, Megan – get some clothes on."

Both Lou and the girl he had been having sex with scrambled to grab their clothes as Dana ran back downstairs. Matt was trying to pry both boys apart, and his efforts were futile at best. Lou came downstairs and dumped water on both Ralph and Jonathan, causing them to cease fighting but they began cursing like sailors when they realized how wet they were.

"Go home, dickhead!" said Dana.

"Not me, I hope," said Jonathan.

"No, the asshole," said Dana.

"Where's Trisha?" asked Ralph.

"She's upstairs, sleeping it off," said Dana.

Ralph made to go up the stairs, but several of the girls blocked his path. Giving up, he went back to his own fraternity house and made a phone call.

Trisha Kimble was going to pay for not sleeping with him.

* * *

"COSMO!"

Said man poked his head through the doorway. "Why are you yelling at me?"

"I need you to cross-index this list-" Sam held up a stack of papers.

"Why did you yell at me?"

"With this one." He held up a second stack. "Ask Biggs if you need help."

"Why don't you yell at somebody else once?"

"NOAH!"

"Atta boy, Sam!"

"I got a lead! I got it! I have him! We have Kimble right where we want him!"

Cosmo made eye contact with Sam, who already had his head in his hands. Cosmo looked over his shoulder to see Noah making a mad dash across the room. Noah's eyes were as wild with excitement as his hair was on a windy day and he was dropping pages left and right. Cosmo made a 'heaven help that poor child' face before returning to his own desk.

Sam sighed in resignation. He was obviously stuck with hearing Noah ramble away.

"Alright, kid. What do you have?"

"I got a lead from a phone call. Trisha is going to be meeting her uncle tonight."

"Do you know where? I'll call it in."

Sam made a motion to get the phone, but Noah stopped him.

"I don't know where. The caller didn't know where Trisha was going."

A red flag shot up the pole in Sam's mind's eye.

"Didn't know? He knew the girl was meeting Kimble but he didn't know where? Noah, exactly where did you get your lead?"

"Ralph Kinneaman, but that doesn't matter!" said Noah.

Sam put his head in his hands again.

"Isn't that the kid who barfed all over the car windshield when you and Cosmo went to the college? When Cosmo lost his pants?"

"Uhhh... yeah. But, like I said- it doesn't matter. It's a direct lead to Kimble. The closest we've had in... a really long time," said Noah.

"You know that this Ralph character can't be trusted, right?"

Noah made no response. Sam sighed.

"Alright. You can have your lead. But know this- you run into trouble, you call it in, OK?"

"Yessir."

If Sam hadn't known better, he could have sworn he saw Noah skipping away.

* * *

She got off the L train, her all-black attire helping her get lost in the crowd. She could almost hear her late Aunt Helen's voice telling her not to wear dark colors at night, because she'd get hit by a car or motorcycle.

FLASHBACK

" _Why do I get the feeling you're going to miss me when I start school?" asked Trisha._

" _I probably will," said Helen._

" _You could always get your old job back at the Art Institute, or am I wrong?"_

" _No, you aren't wrong. They'd probably jump at the chance for me to come back, it's just…"_

" _Just what, Aunt Helen?" asked Trisha._

" _Considering how hectic your uncle's schedule is, at least one of us should leave our time free to attend your swim meets," said Helen._

" _You don't have to do that," said Trisha._

" _I want to."_

END FLASHBACK

Trisha wiped a tear from her eyes as she walked towards the building where the now-defunct bakery was. It had been a cozy place, where the two of them hid from the world when Trisha had been afraid to go anywhere during the darkest days immediately after her parents' death – the bakery had smelled of delicious pastries and hot drinks, but it had been a mom-and-pop establishment unable to compete with the likes of Starbucks and Dunkin Donuts, which subsequently had caused its closure six months after Trisha matriculated at Northwestern.

She chuckled at her uncle's annoyed exclamation of the closure, as he had gone straight there after work one night to buy a box of cannolis for Helen, only to find the place boarded up never to work its magic again.

In retrospect, it must have been a sign of things to come. And yet, not all signs of life were gone from this street – a well-lit window from a floral shop caught the pre-med student's attention.

Unfortunately, it wasn't the flowers in the window that caught Trisha's eye.

She had turned for a brief moment to make sure she wasn't being followed – and had seen someone whose height was too conspicuous for her liking.

The ponytail on his head only confirmed her suspicions of who it was.

 _Either kiss me or cuff me, you handsome fool_ , thought Trisha.

Seeing fire escape stairs, she ran up them and found herself on a roof, then ran down another set and found herself in an alleyway.

"Well, shit," Trisha muttered.

"Trisha?" said a voice.

At first, she thought it might be Noah but she realized the voice was too deep to be his.

"Uncle Richard?"

"Yeah… it's me."

"Why couldn't you just ask me over the phone what you wanted?"

"I figured they probably had people on campus keeping an eye on you," said Richard. "So… who's after me?"

"CPD, obviously, and the U.S. Marshals. Their leader is a relentless shit from what I've heard," said Trisha.

She peeked around the alley, and realized it was only a matter of time before Noah found them both.

"If Dad was still alive, he'd kill you for dragging me into this. You know that."

Richard had a sheepish expression on his face. Trisha was right, and he knew it. His older brother had been a very protective husband and father, a big one-eighty from a man who had bragged about his constant exploits with women and who had often dragged his little brother into said exploits as well.

Richard hated that Logan was gone – things wouldn't have gotten this far. He had been the best defense attorney on the west coast, and they had always counted on each other.

 _Logan would've found the one-armed man. He would've found him and I wouldn't have to find the bastard by myself_ , thought Richard.

"I am going to find the one-armed man myself, you stay out of it unless I get caught," said Richard.

"Or you get me caught."

"What the hell?!"

"I was followed! The marshals sent one of theirs after me, lucky for me he was tall or I would've been pinched before I got here!" said Trisha.

She was trying not to get angry, but she couldn't help it. Why would an innocent man put her in this position?

 _Oh, fuck. He's guilty. He bashed her brains in to throw me off._

"Get out of here," said Richard.

"No, I'll handle him. You get out."

Richard ran up the fire escape, and Trisha stood there. She looked up and saw him watching, waiting, but wasn't sure how she wanted this to end.

* * *

Where did Trisha go?

Noah had only slowed for a moment. Trisha had stopped at a window. Noah had stopped only twenty or thirty feet away.

 _How could I have possibly been such an idiot? It was my lead! Sam is counting on me!_ , thought Noah.

Trisha was a vital piece of evidence – and a direct link to Kimble. Everyone was counting on him.

 _And I just blew it._

He looked around. Maybe he could pick up her trail somewhere.

Who was he kidding? He'd lost her. He'd had something, he'd taken a risk, and he'd _lost._ Noah looked up at the night sky. The gray clouds were heavy with rain. He continued walking. Suddenly, a hand grabbed his arm and pulled him into an alleyway. His yelp of alarm seemed to have no effect on his assailant.

Noah looked at the person. Even in the low lighting, he could see that it wasn't a stranger at all. It was Trisha.

"What the-? Have you lost your mi-" she cut him off with a deep kiss.

Noah reared back from her face. He paused. He blinked twice.

The clouds released their torrent of rain.

Noah's unruly curls drooped over his face. He smiled and put them behind his ear.

"On second thought, could we do that again?"

Trisha nodded and they began making out. She thought she heard her uncle make a gagging sound as he ran away – she ignored him, and the rain as it soaked them both, their tongues doing a furious dance as she ran a hand through his unruly hair, neither of them wanting this to end.

She thought she heard a noise – she ignored it, but then she heard a shout, curse words, and… hooting?

A wolf whistle permeated the silence.

"Atta boy, Newman!"

The two of them pulled apart to find the entire team of marshals staring at them.

 **The Art Institute is actually the Art Institute of Chicago, but I'm not sure if someone actually living in Chicago would formally refer to it like that, hence why I wrote it the way I did. Also, the Latin phrase in the chapter Carpe Noctem means Seize the Night.**


	11. Chapter 11: Girl, Misunderstood

**A/N: Yes, I know it's been a while... but I'm baaaaack!**

 **Chapter 11- Girl, Misunderstood**

He heard thunder as he climbed up the fire escape and was halfway up to the roof when he saw it.

His niece was kissing the marshal.

"Blargh!"

He gagged and had to fight off the urge to vomit. Surely she didn't actually like him… did she?

 _That's what your brother said when he met Veronica, and look what they spawned!_ , the intrusive thought shot through Richard's head as he reached the roof of the derelict building.

He ran down the fire escape on the other side and hopped a fence as, unbeknownst to him, Deputy Sam Gerard and the rest of his team – minus Noah – showed up.

 _She's got her dad's taste in significant others – great, just great_ , Richard thought as he ran off.

* * *

"WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?!"

Trisha stared at the screaming man, unsure of how to handle the situation. Neither her father nor her uncle had ever screamed at her like this. Even her late grandfather, a cranky old man who had had a penchant for showing anyone unfortunate to be nearby his old war wounds and to tell the stories of how he had received each one, had never been this bad.

Or was Deputy Gerard yelling at Noah? The blue-eyed handsome man stood there frozen, as if expecting to be shot for his crime of kissing her.

"Uh, Sammy?"

"WHAT?!"

He then proceeded to yell at Cosmo.

"Uh, Kid?" said Biggs.

"What?" mouthed Noah.

Biggs gestured to his neck, and Trisha giggled.

"What's going on?" said Noah.

"I think your friend is trying to tell you I gave you a hickey," Trisha whispered.

"Atta girl Trisha!" yelled Cosmo.

Sam glared at her and raised an arm, as if he was going to hit her. He rolled his eyes then smacked Cosmo in the back of the head.

"What the hell?!" Cosmo yelled.

"Stop encouraging them!" Sam yelled. "Where's Kimble?!"

"He wasn't here," said Noah.

Sam then focused his attention on Trisha, whose face had turned ashen. That told him she was definitely hiding something.

"Where the hell is he?!"

"I don't know, Deputy," said Trisha.

"Don't play that game with me!" Sam growled. "How about I call CPD down here? Give Kelly a reason to arrest you!"

"Sam, Kimble's friends stonewalled us and we weren't doing this to them," said Poole.

He cursed, not caring that she was right.

"Yeah, Nichols gave him money," said Cosmo.

"He did?" said Trisha. "How much?"

"Why does that matter?" asked Sam.

"I've known Charlie almost my entire life, so if he told you an amount, it was probably way lower than what he gave my uncle," said Trisha.

"Why are you so quick to throw your uncle's pal under the bus?" asked Cosmo.

"He didn't show up at the trial, not once. I guess I'm still angry about that."

"Hell hath no fury," Cosmo muttered.

"Shut up, Cosmo," said Sam.

"Um… am I allowed to go back to campus?" asked Trisha.

Sam merely shrugged, so Trisha just stood there.

"If you were going to be arrested, you'd have handcuffs on," said Poole. "Now let's get you out of here so you can get some dry clothes on."

"Thank you," said Trisha.

"I'll take her back to Evanston," said Noah.

"To the sorority house? Wait for me!" said Cosmo.

* * *

Trisha was quiet as the three of them arrived to the sorority house. She could still hear music blaring even as the trio walked up to the door. A girl then ran out of the sorority house two doors down from the Gamma house wearing nothing but sandals and carrying a fistful of cash.

"Yay, the pizza guy's here!" the girl yelled.

Cosmo flashed his badge and the girl ran off.

"Wait, come back here!" yelled Cosmo.

He unbelted his pants and chased after the nearly naked coed, only to trip over his pants as they fell down. Noah and Trisha immediately lost it – they burst into laughter, holding onto each other for support. A male figure exited the Gamma house and stared, openmouthed, at Cosmo.

"Shit, Cousin. You're an idiot!" said the male figure.

"Shut it, Lou," Cosmo muttered.

"Lou?!" said Trisha.

"What?"

She disentangled herself from Noah and slowly walked towards him in a way that told the young man that he was about to be in trouble unless he rectified the situation, and fast.

"Why didn't you tell me you and Cosmo were cousins?" Trisha hissed.

"I didn't think it mattered, I only see him once a month and that's usually in the city because he'll take me out to lunch or dinner depending on our schedules," said Lou.

"So you didn't rat me out?" asked Trisha.

"God no, I told him up front I wasn't getting involved. 'Not my girlfriend, not my problem', he can quote me on that," said Lou.

"Yep, I can," said Cosmo as he ran into the sorority house, belting his pants in the process.

Foam then rained down on the four of them.

"What the hell? Yuck!" said Noah.

"For someone who's pre-med, you sure know how to party," said Cosmo.

He and Lou ran into the foam and vanished.

* * *

It was a couple days later, and things were mostly back to normal. Even the weather was lousy.

Trisha knocked on the room of one of the newer sorority sisters, Mindy, a girl from Colorado who was used to enduring long winters.

"You got your flare gun right?" asked Trisha.

"Yeah, why?" asked Mindy.

"Stupid walkway froze over and the shovels also froze over because someone left them outside," said Trisha.

"Don't tell me they're actually going to have class tomorrow!"

"Looks like it," said Trisha.

"Gross!"

"You're telling me," said Trisha. "I was thinking I'd melt the ice off the steps and the walkway so we don't kill ourselves trying to get to class."

Mindy handed Trisha the flare gun and Trisha went outside to defrost the stairs. When that was done, she moved on to the walkway.

* * *

"Noah, come look at this." Cosmo absently spun his pencil in his fingers. "Noah?"

He looked up to find Noah perched on a chair, and a dazed look on his face. "Noah!" Cosmo snapped his fingers in front of Noah's face.

"Wha-huh?"

"You are seriously zoned today. With a capital 'Z'." He paused and stood up. "Are you OK?"

"Oh, uhhh... Yeah. Sure. I'm... uhhh... I'm OK."

"I know when you're lying to me."

Noah gave an embarrassed, 'caught' look. "Yeah. I'm just thinkin'."

"Thinking? About what?"

"Trisha," Noah answered with a dreaming smile. "She kissed me, ya know. I really like her."

Cosmo's jaw dropped. "Uhmmmmm... Give me a second, yeh?"

He dashed into the room where the rest of the team was congregated for some reason.

"Noah's finally got a lover!"

He received a collective, "HUH?" from the entire room.

"Yeah! He just told me that the little kiss we saw wasn't just show! He likes her!"

The grin nearly disappeared off Cosmo's face seconds later when he saw the look on Sam's – his boss' face was red and the older man's eyes were full of rage.

"WHY, I'LL KILL THAT LITTLE-" he was out the door before he finished.

Cosmo stuck his head out of the door to see Sam fly into the elevator.

"Sammy...!"

* * *

In Trisha's mind, this was dumb. Very dumb. Why didn't the campus police or maintenance or whoever was in charge of this stuff bring snow salt over? This had taken almost an entire hour to do, and there was still a small pathway in the back she had to do.

 _Least the flare is melting the ice_ , thought Trisha as she cut through the sorority house and into the back.

She was so engrossed in trying to finish the tiny walkway that she brushed off the sound of screeching brakes near the sorority house and the yelling voices that followed. The yelling stopped, and soon she got back to melting the ice off.

Then she felt something cold on the side of her head.

"What the hell, Jonathan? Or is it Matt? Seriously you guys better not be trying to pull a prank on me," said Trisha.

It wasn't until she heard the clicking noise that she realized someone was holding a gun to her head.

"PUT THAT FLARE DOWN! RIGHT NOW!" a voice yelled.

She realized it was Deputy Gerard and hastily dropped the flare.

"Hands on your head," Sam growled.

"Look," said Trisha. "If this is about my uncle, I really don't know where –"

"This isn't about him," Sam snapped. "Now _walk_."

She tried to run inside but he grabbed her, steering her towards the woods behind the sorority house. She heard a slight scraping noise and realized he had grabbed a shovel behind the derelict shed in the backyard – the one where they kept all the party and emergency supplies, the latter of which came in handy a couple years back when an F-1 tornado had hit campus. She had forgotten about the shovel because of how rusty it was; no one had wanted to use it as one wrong move could've caused a bad injury or worse, tetanus.

She wasn't sure when they stopped walking but he kept the gun trained on her the entire time. He then threw the shovel at her.

"What the hell?!" said Trisha.

"You messed with Noah. See, I don't tolerate people messing with my team – especially suspects and women," said Sam.

"I didn't mess with him Deputy," said Trisha.

Sam fired off a shot. It missed Trisha's face by mere inches.

"You're lying to me," Sam growled. "Tell me the truth or the next one will find its target."

"I'm not lying! I – I care about him!"

"START DIGGING!"

"What?!" said Trisha.

"You're going to dig your own grave, that's what!"

Trisha tossed the shovel on the ground and glared at him.

"No."

"WHAT?!" Sam yelled.

"No," said Trisha. "Do it yourself."

"Get on your knees! Now!"

She clumsily knelt down, fear having taken over at this point.

"What the hell, this place is deserted," said Sam. "No one will find you till spring anyway."

Trisha began crying as she felt Sam place the gun against her head one more time. She was going to die here, alone, and he was right – Dana would be the only one to know she was missing, and she highly doubted her friend would know where to look.

She closed her eyes and waited for the gunshot.

Trisha screamed as Sam emptied his clip.

* * *

Dana heard a loud noise and a scream coming from the dense woods behind the sorority house and she raced outside, panicked for two reasons – she knew who had screamed, and growing up in Texas she recognized the noise immediately.

It was gunfire.

Trisha Kimble was shaking – and she had just wet her pants.

All of the shots had missed, but that was because he had missed on purpose.

"You messed with the kid! How does it feel to be messed with?!" Sam yelled.

She couldn't speak as he ran off. Once she was sure he was gone, she got up and began the long walk back to the sorority house. She wasn't sure when, but a red-haired blur ran up and grabbed her.

Trisha knew it was Dana before she got a good look at the girl. Neither of them said a word until they got back to the sorority house and they reached the bedroom they shared.

"I need to call Noah," Trisha whispered. "Something awful happened."

"You could barely stand when I found you, what was it?" said Dana.

"I need Noah," said Trisha.

They went downstairs to the kitchen. Dana had to dial the number for the Marshals' office because Trisha's hands were shaking too much to dial the number herself.

"Hello?" said Noah.

"It's Trisha," said Trisha.

On the other end of the line, Noah frowned. She didn't sound like herself.

"What's going on?"

"Sam showed up… he thinks I played you… that's not true Noah I swear to god that is not true!"

"I know," said Noah.

"He had me at gunpoint the entire time, made me think he was going to… he was going to…"

"He did what?!"

Trisha was shaking like a leaf and could barely speak, her voice disintegrating to a squeaking sound. Dana took the phone.

"I heard him fire his gun, I think he staged a mock execution or something equally nasty," said Dana. "She's pretty upset."

"Why?!"

"I guess he thought she was messing with you, so he figured he'd mess with her? She isn't that type of person Noah," said Dana.

They ended the call. Dana helped Trisha up the stairs and tried to come up with a way to get back at Sam that wouldn't get her arrested.

* * *

"Sam!" Noah was angrily storming out of the double doors.

"What? What is it?" Sam and Cosmo ducked out of the car.

Noah stopped only a few feet from them. "Trisha just called me- she said you threatened her with a gun!"

"She's been messing with your head, Noah."

"I just-" Noah deflated. "I'm not going to lie to you, guys. It's just... Sentiment."

Sam put his arm over Noah's shoulder. "It's OK, kid. Nobody's perfect. But I want you in my office for a talk. OK?"

Noah sighed. Back to work.

 **NEXT DAY**

She was doing homework when the phone rang. It was Noah.

"Hey," said Trisha. "I'm glad you called."

"I can't see why."

"What are you talking about?" asked Trisha.

"Sam would never lie about someone messing with me. You, on the other hand, have plenty to gain from making me think you're interested in me when all you want is to get the manhunt called off," said Noah. "You said it yourself, your parents were attorneys."

"After everything else I told you about myself in Baltimore?" Trisha whispered. "Noah, it was all real, okay? I care about you a lot."

"I'm not listening to your lies anymore. We're done."

 **To be continued...**


End file.
